NHI And The Future Of Universal Healthcare In South Africa

2024 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Availability of health care access in south africa

A new healthcare system is currently in the process of being implemented in South Africa, known as National Health Insurance. The implementation process will extend over fourteen years and will be implemented in various phases. This essay will critically discuss the ideals of NHI and the feasibility of implementing universal healthcare in South Africa. The aim of National Health Insurance (NHI) is to guarantee that all citizens have equal access to healthcare services and to promote equity and efficiency in healthcare (Department of health, 2011). The current system of healthcare benefits those who can afford private healthcare and neglects those who cannot- as they are forced to utilize public healthcare services which is often viewed as being of a lower standard. With South Africa’s notorious historical history, NHI is a tool being used to diminish some of the inequalities in healthcare access and service that have occurred and continue to occur, as a result of Apartheid. NHI is a means of standardizing healthcare throughout the country, thus the term “Universal Healthcare”. Another important factor that has prompted Government into considering a new system is the Quadruple burden of disease that South Africa has, which could have crippling effects on the country’s economy and health indicators. This includes HIV/AIDS and TB, Maternal and Child death, Non-communicable diseases and Violence and Injuries(Department of health, 2011).

The current healthcare system in South Africa is two tiered- consisting of private and public healthcare. The NHI policy paper argues that the current healthcare system still does not address the inequalities of the past and provide equal access to healthcare because of financial burdens. Private hea...

... middle of paper ...

...ystem, medical practitioners may not be willing to move to rural or underdeveloped areas to work in a specialist team in a clinic when they have become accustomed to an urban lifestyle. Another problem that NHI is likely to face in its implementation is that not all members of the population may be accepting of the new system when they have become accustomed to the mechanisms of the older system. Those who were previously not allocating a portion of their monthly salaries to healthcare would now be forced to-which could affect lifestyles of families as currently 23% of the population is impoverished (World Bank 2014). Therefore their monthly incomes covers will be sufficient to just cover basic expenses.

After critically discussing all the key factors of the system, I believe that the implementation of NHI will not be sustainable as a health system for South Africa.

Show More
Related

  • Comparative Analysis of Australian Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and the First Nations of Canada

    3578 Words  | 8 Pages

    Equality in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and, more reasonably, that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential. Based on this definition, the aim of policy for equity and health is not to eliminate all health differences so that everyone has the same level and quality of health, but rather to reduce or eliminate those which result from factors which are considered to be avoidable and unfair. To appreciate the importance of striving for equity in relation to health, it is necessary to be aware of just how extensive are the differences in health found in the world today. In every part of the region, and in every type of political and social system, differences in health have been noted between different social groups and between different geographical areas in the same country (Whitehead 2000). There is consistent evidence that inequalities in health result in disadvantaged groups having poorer survival chances, suffering a heavier burden of illness, and sharing a similar pattern of low quality of life

    Read More

  • Universal Healthcare: The Superior and Necessary Choice

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Universal health care refers to any system of health care managed by the government. The health care system may cover different programs including government run hospitals and health organizations and programs targeted at providing health care. Many developed countries such as Canada and United Kingdom have embraced universal health care with the United States being the only exception. The present U.S health care system has often been considered inefficient in terms of cost control as millions of Americans remain uncovered. This has made it the subject of a heated debate characterized by people who argue that the country requires a kind of socialized system that will permit increased government participation. Others have tended to support privatized health care, or a combined model of private and universal health care that will permit private companies to offer health care for a specific fee. Universal healthcare has numerous advantages that remain hidden from society. First, the federal government can apply economies of scale in managing health facilities which would reduce health care expenses. Second, all unnecessary expenses would be eliminated by requiring all states to bring together all the insurance companies into a single entity whose mandate would be to provide health insurance to all people. Lastly, increased government participation will guarantee quality care, improve access to medical services and address critical problems relating to market failure.

    Read More

  • Healthcare in the United Kingdom & US

    1743 Words  | 4 Pages

    As of April 1, 2010, many changes in the health care structure is changing. Many of these changes are reorganizing the responsibilities of who makes the decisions on how services are commissioned, the way money is spent and issuing more involvement from local authorities and opening up comp...

    Read More

  • National Health Care Quality and Disparities Report

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    The NHQDR 2012 is a comprehensive report that implies there are changes that need to occur at multiple levels within the health care system and public policy. The report implies that the health care system needs to become more accessible to all populations, and the disparities in quality of care need to decrease. Health care providers need to evaluate access to care, treatment quality and its effectiveness. Meanwhile public policy needs to support funded programs that will improve access to care and support preventative services.

    Read More

  • Free Health Care Clinics are Effective for The Uninsured

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Low income earners, in the neighborhood, continuously face dwindling health care resources. This is a great concern that has to be addressed and mitigated, failure to which they will continue to get poor quality health care and will also be reluctant to seek health care services over and over again. The poor and the disable within the community are economically unstable which makes them unable to access the existing insurance plan. It is of importance to note that they are the most vulnerable and the marginalized groups of people in the society. They lack economic capacity to access the existing plan making them lack better care as they require (Huntingto...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care System

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    The implementation of a universal health care system in the United States is an important challenge that needs to be overcome. There are numerous amount of editorial that argue on both sides of the debate. Some people argue that a universal health care system would bring costs down and increase access to care while others argue that a universal health care system would be too expensive and reduce the quality of care. The correct answer requires intensive understanding and economics to overcome, the arguments must be examined for a proper answer.

    Read More

  • The Universal Healthcare System

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most commonly debated topics in recent American history has been that of health care. Would Americans be able to reap more benefits if individuals continue to be independent in their pursuits of health care, or would it be beneficial for all if the government introduced more regulations regarding health care, changing our system to resemble those of other developed countries? As more solutions are offered, it becomes harder for people to reach a consensus on the best way to approach this issue. Despite this, America must decide what system of healthcare will benefit the most citizens and improve the quality of life the most. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a universal healthcare system would be the most effective and

    Read More

  • Healthcare Policy Essay

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    Healthcare plays an important role in almost every person’s life at one point or another. Many times, one can get caught without, or underinsured and it can be detrimental to their livelihood. With the rising cost of healthcare, it is likely that having a national healthcare policy in place, and as an individual, being able to afford and obtain adequate health insurance has not been required until now. With the new national healthcare plan, it is required for all citizens to obtain and maintain some sort of public or private insurance policy. The rising costs can be attributed to many things. A significant reason for the astronomical cost of health care is because of the staggering amount of uninsured or underinsured individuals receiving medical attention and almost many never paying the bill. Those who do have insurance have seen a gradual increase in their premiums and deductibles to make up for this.

    Read More

  • Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains

    1957 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the ultimate significance to this type of work is to improve the quality of healthcare in these extremely impoverished nations. This argument is represented in Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right”, and Darshark Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” The idea that universal healthcare is a human right is argued against in Michael F. Cannon’s “A “Right” to health care?” Cannon claims that it would not work, and fills the holes that the other authors leave in their arguments. All of these articles share the same ultimate goal, and that is to provide every individual with adequate health care, and to not let so many people die from things that could easily have been prevented or treated.

    Read More

  • Universal Healthcare: The Wrong Type of Change

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Healthcare professionals want only to provide the best care and comfort for their patients. In today’s world, advances in healthcare and medicine have made their task of doing so much easier, allowing previously lethal diseases to be diagnosed and treated with proficiency and speed. A majority of people in the United States have health insurance and enjoy the luxury of convenient, easy to access health care services, with annual checkups, preventative care, and their own personal doctor ready to diagnose and provide treatment for even the most trivial of symptoms. Many of these people could not imagine living a day without the assurance that, when needed, medical care would not be available to themselves and their loved ones. However, millions of American citizens currently live under these unimaginable conditions, going day to day without the security of frequent checkups, prescription medicine, or preventative medicines that could prevent future complications in their health. Now with the rising unemployment rates due to the current global recession, even more Americans are becoming uninsured, and the flaws in the United States’ current healthcare system are being exposed. In order to amend these flaws, some are looking to make small changes to fix the current healthcare system, while others look to make sweeping changes and remodel the system completely, favoring a more socialized, universal type of healthcare system. Although it is certain that change is needed, universal healthcare is not the miracle cure that will solve the systems current ailments. Universal healthcare should not be allowed to take form in America as it is a menace to the capitalist principle of a free market, threatens to put a stranglehold on for-...

    Read More

  • The Universal Health Care System

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Universal health care system is a system in which the government helps pay the medical expenses of its citizens. The universal health care is financed with the taxes of the citizens and allows citizens get free health care.

    Read More

  • Problems With the U.S. Healthcare System

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    National health systems are assessed by the extent to which expenditure and actions in public health and medical care contributes to the crucial social goals of improving health, increasing access to quality healthcare, reducing health disparities, protecting citizens from penury due to medical e...

    Read More

  • Determinants Of Health And Social Health

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    A wide variety of community, individual and national factors determine the delivery of health.2 There is a growing number of evidence on inequalities in both accessing of health and the distribution ...

    Read More

  • Essay On Indonesian Health Care System

    1925 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the World Bank, the budget for 2014 universal health care system of Indonesia was at 4.86 billion dollars to care for 240 million people (N. Mboi 2015). And about 80000 villages. The healthcare system is a universal health care system that 's run by the government of Indonesia called, Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN). The health care system is seeing overseen by the Minister of Health. It 's interesting to note that just as Britain the wealthy do not utilize this health care system and in the fact that of 1800 hospitals 650 of them are private those private hospitals do you not meet the accreditation of the Ministry of Health but that doesn 't stop the wealthy from continuing to go to these facilities. Girl according to the World Health Organization Indonesia ranks 92nd out of 190 countries in the same rating system it 's worth noting that Britain ranks 18th. Now let 's look at the dominant characteristics of

    Read More

  • One of the Greatest Leaders: Nelson Mandela

    2310 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ellent policies, 5) the Constitution had come into existence through the working together of various groups that had composed South Africa, 6) South Africa's political and economic institutions are well established, 7) and that South Africa is by far the most developed country in Africa. However, there are still avenues that can impede further progress, more so economically then politically. Primarily the lack of foreign investment, especially when South Africa's gold and diamond reserves are emptied as other parts of economy are not as developed. Secondly, the economic gap between whites and blacks that was stretched during the time of apartheid needs to be tightened or else it could become dangerous to the stability of the political system. However, due to the leadership of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s current government structure exists to solve these issues.

    Read More

More about NHI And The Future Of Universal Healthcare In South Africa

Open Document