1. Introduction
The liberation of South Africa (SA) into an independent and democratic nation in 1994 was accompanied by drastic measures to amend persistent disparities especially those among different races. In this notion, many areas, healthcare were prioritised as one such important sector. Currently under the rule of the African National Congress (ANC) party, the South African government has recently published the National Health Insurance (NHI) Green Paper. This essay will discuss the economic incidence of implementing the NHI. Analyses of the financing and benefit incidences will be made for both the current health system and the newly proposed NHI. Finally, a plausible conclusion will be made based on the analysis of the analysis of
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However, a research paper written by Econex authors Theron & Van Eeden (2009:P. 4) indicate an alternative conclusion whereas their results show a more considerable cross-subsidisation between the rich and the poor. Figure 1 and 2 illustrate the contrasting ideas presented by the two research papers (Appendix A; Appendix …show more content…
Analysis of the financing incidence of the NHI
As with many policy objectives, the means of funding any project are of utmost importance. The preliminary financing mechanism for the NHI as suggested by the African National Congress (2010) (Treasury, 2011) was general taxation more so through the means of an earmarked tax. Earmarking taxes according to Cordes et al., (2005: p.89) refers to devoting a stream of tax revenue to a precise expenditure purpose (Cordes, et al., 2005). In the context of the NHI, this entails that all individuals are to be taxed above what they are currently paying.
In the Econex Health reform note by (Theron, 2011)Theron (2011: p.1), a discussion is conducted of the ANC’s proposal of using an earmarked tax to fund the additional expenditure required for the NHI. The article discussed two main ideas. The first idea principally discussed that using earmarked taxes is a weak argument with regards to funding the NHI. According to Theron (2011: p.1), (Theron, 2011)earmarked taxes are reserved solely for specific programmes or projects. The article further stated that earmarked taxes reduce the flexibility of public spending as the overall economic performance fluctuates with the business
A health care system that provides free health care services to its entire citizen can be termed as universal health care. This is a situation where all citizens are protected from financial costs in health care. It is recognized around the globe as it provides a specific package of benefits to all citizens in the entire nation. For instance, free health care can result to improved health outcomes. In addition, it provides financial risk protection and an improved access to health services. There is an increasing debate on how citizen should be provided with free medical services. Although United State does not permit free health care services it should have free health care for all citizens. This is due to the fact that healthcare is the largest industry in United State. Due to the fact that United State is a rich country, it should have a healthcare system that provides free services such as treatment for its entire citizen. This will play a significant role, as it will stop medical bankruptcies in...
The reasons why ABF would be considered by the government in Australia’s public hospitals are; cost reduction and efficiency increases. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014), in Australia, $140.2 billion was spent on health care in 2011-12 with 69.7% of the funding derived from the federal government and 27.3% from state and territory governments. Since the global economic crisis in 2007/2008, government health funding has increased and tax revenue has declined; where previously the figures were growing at an adjacent and stable rate.
The Australian health care system comprises both the public and the private health sub-sectors. The health care system concerns itself with the financing, formulation, implementation, evaluation, and reforming of health services. The main sources of f...
The structure of my paper is the following. First I identify the trend of heath care costs over time, compared to other countries. Then I present an investigation of possible heath care cost ...
The word “apartheid” means “separateness” in Afrikaans Language. Human Rights, according to “Article 1, UN Declaration of Rights” states that “ All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in spirit of brotherhood”. The native Africans were being segregated from the whites and were treated as second class citizens. The black residents felt that the apartheid policies violated their rights. Human rights of South African natives were violated when a racial segregation system, called Apartheid, based upon skin color was established by the South African government. Although there were various international responses, the actions of such groups as the African National Congress displayed defiance and bravery in the midst of severe situations.
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
The concept of NHS came into power from 5th July 1948. Although, Bevan who had this ideology of ‘welfare state’ was successful in architecting NHS. In fact, the need for such a consolidation of service provision was initially identified in 1919 by the Dawson Committee report (Christopher, 2004). The state in which healthcare system operated before1948 was incomprehensive, full of inequality and even lacked in providing minimum adequate standards to the general public. The people living in poverty and on Low income (working class) were affected the most; whereas, rich families were able to afford the healthcare services adequately. The health insurance was provided under the National Insurance Act 191, but was only available to the workers, whereas, their dependants (wife and children’s) were excluded. Therefore, every time they used the services they were required to pay for it. Thus, because most...
The Statutory Health Insurance (SHI), financed primarily through “payroll taxes and...an income tax,” covers the entire resident population (E. Mossialos 59). The SHI is composed of several schemes in which “individuals and their families are affiliated with a scheme based on their employment status and remain in [that] scheme in retirement.” No individuals can opt out to ensure coverage among “virtually the entire population.” The most popular scheme “covers employees in commerce and industry,” representing approximately 88% of the population. Despite the variety of SHI schemes for variations in employment statuses, such as agricultural or self-employment, “there is no competition among the schemes.” For low-income individuals
Source A gives a view on the South African governments control over its people and racial discrimination. It is a biased view and makes the South African government seem cruel and racist. It states that the governments "politics are determined by the colour a persons skin". As this is a statement it gives the impression that it is a fact and by giving this impression it also communicates the idea that the South African government IS racist, rather than the South African government COULD be racist. This comes as no real surprise as the advert has been paid for by the ANC (African National Congress), who are a very anti - South African government organization.
A recent report updated in 2014 by the Commonwealth Fund shows that among 11 countries surveyed, the United States has the highest cost associated with healthcare, measured by total health related expenditures as a percent of the GDP; yet our healthcare system ranks last in most dimensions of performance, which include access, quality, efficiency, and equity. This presents the notion that a more expensive health care system does not correlate with a one of higher quality.
...illion during 2004–05 of which Rs. 20,884 million constituting 68.49% was routed through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. State governments received directly 10.73% of total external funds. Further grants to NGOs formed 20.78% of total external flow in 2004–05.
Pressured by the demands of a growing population and limited by resources in a volatile economy, the government of Tanzania has created a decentralized multi-tiered health system. The majority of the system’s health facilities (approx. 65%) are government-run; however faith-based and for-profit providers also supply instrumental care services (Borghi et al. 2012). The system assumes and facilitates disparities in individuals’ wealth and accessibility to care. It employs a hierarchy of health services to provide people with general health services locally, and then refer them to increasingly more centralized and specialized facilities as needed.
The problems of formal health services and the challenges in sub-Saharan Africa have been widely documented. Findings from other current studies reveal a myriad of failures in the supply and demand side of health services. Access to formal services is also impinged by distance and financial factors; service quality is extremely very poor and is highly characterized by drug and staff shortages, lack of political commitment, poor infrastructure and negligence among health staff (Kadzandira and Chalowa, 2001).
The high mortality rate in South Africa has resulted from the poor national healthcare services. Annual reports from WHO shows that millions of African fatalities caused
A theoretical basis does also exist for the reverse causation, from health expenditure to income and economic growth. The role of health care spending, as an investment, on stimulating economic growth has been suggested by Mushkin. According to him, health is considered as capital. Therefore, investment on health can increase income and hence lead to overall economic growth. (Mushkin, 1962). This is especially seen on low income or developing countries. The World Health Organization’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health report of the year 2001, states that “extending the coverage of crucial health services to the world’s poor could save millions of lives each year, reduce poverty, spur economic development and promote global security” (World Health Organization, 2001).