{"id":92985,"date":"2024-11-08T07:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T05:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=92985"},"modified":"2024-11-08T08:55:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T06:55:38","slug":"irr-nhi-funding-remains-unrealistic-and-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/irr-nhi-funding-remains-unrealistic-and-unclear\/","title":{"rendered":"IRR: NHI Funding Remains Unrealistic and Unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

3-minute read<\/em><\/p>\n

08 November 2024 | 07:51 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

The latest announcement that the National Health Insurance (NHI) could be funded through funds from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) shows that the government still has no idea how the scheme will be funded, which is untenable. (IRR)<\/p><\/div>\n

The recent proposal to fund South Africa\u2019s National Health Insurance (NHI) through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has drawn sharp criticism from the Institute for Race Relations (IRR), which warns that the government\u2019s approach remains deeply flawed and potentially harmful to pensioners\u2019 investments. This plan, touted as a solution to bridge NHI\u2019s funding gaps, has been flagged by the IRR as \u201cuntenable,\u201d sparking renewed debates over the scheme’s financial viability.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Radio Islam<\/a>, IRR spokesperson Marius Roodt pointed out that using PIC funds for NHI underscores the government\u2019s struggle to secure a stable funding stream. “They don\u2019t know where the money will come from,” Roodt commented. \u201cWe can\u2019t raise taxes anymore, and the fiscal space is already narrow.\u201d Roodt underscored that tapping into the PIC, a fund meant to secure government employees\u2019 pensions, is misguided, likening it to using a \u201cslush fund\u201d for projects without guaranteed returns.<\/p>\n

The implications of this approach on PIC\u2019s long-term sustainability raise concerns about the security of government pensions, as Roodt explained: \u201cPIC should be generating returns for government employees\u2019 pensions, not funding NHI infrastructure.\u201d He noted that while pension funds sometimes support infrastructure investments, they do so only when assured of returns, which NHI\u2019s financing model lacks.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi has not clarified NHI\u2019s funding sources despite addressing the issue in parliamentary responses. Roodt contended, \u201cIf it can\u2019t come from the Minister, then where in the world will that answer come from?\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRR has proposed alternative solutions, focusing on immediate improvements to public healthcare infrastructure and promoting private healthcare involvement to alleviate strain on the public system. Other options include a universal health voucher or mandatory medical aid contributions from employed citizens, with employer-paid subsidies for low-income workers. \u201cSouth Africa needs a decent healthcare system, but the NHI model in its current form isn\u2019t viable,\u201d Roodt stated.<\/p>\n

With ongoing budgetary constraints and an uncertain funding framework, the IRR warns that the proposed NHI could risk public finances and pension security without delivering the necessary healthcare improvements for South Africans.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round Up with Moulana Junaid Jharsany and Marius Roodt here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 08 November 2024 | 07:51 CAT The recent proposal to fund South Africa\u2019s National Health Insurance (NHI) through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has drawn sharp criticism from the Institute for Race Relations (IRR), which warns that the government\u2019s approach remains deeply flawed and potentially harmful to pensioners\u2019 investments. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":92986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/4nhi.png?fit=1080%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-obL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 01:57:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}