#MTBPS2019: NHI Roll-Out To Cost An Additional R33BN

Riyaz Patel

The rollout of the much-anticipated National Health Insurance (NHI) will require an addition R33 billion annually from the 2025/26 financial year.

This was revealed in the National Treasury’s adjusted estimates of the national expenditure document released at the tabling of the 2019 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament Wednesday.

This would be in addition to the previous estimations contained in the Green and White Papers of 2011 and 2017 respectively, of R74bn a year.

“Following the introduction of the National Health Insurance Bill in Parliament earlier this year, the Department of Health reprioritized funds within its 2019/20 budget to establish an NHI Office. Over the medium term, this office will receive increasing allocations for its operational costs,” the MTBPS said.

The NHI policy aims to provide healthcare more equitably in South Africa, with a priority to improve the efficiency of service delivery.