Health

The Medical Schemes Amendment Bill And The National Health Insurance Bill

This brief accompanies the release of our submission to the national Department of Health on its draft Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and the National Health Insurance Bill.

This brief is the second of two. The first brief assesses the extent to which government thinking has progressed on the funding of the health system. This brief will consider the extent to which quantitative modelling can help us think about the system’s future.

This brief is the first of two. It assesses the extent to which government thinking has progressed on the health system. The second will consider whether quantitative modelling can help us think about the system’s future.

This Brief focuses on the Zika virus and the threat to the Brazilian Olympic Games.

This Brief done by HSF's Sarika Doodnath deals with the Silicosis and Tuberculosis cased which are currently being debated over in Court.

This Brief looks at the purchaser-provider split and issues around it as well as whether it is necessary in South Africa's public health system.

This Brief looks at the developments in the NHI White Paper and the effect on the Private Sector with such proposals

This Brief looks at how the resources are allocated in terms of Primary Health Care (PHC) under the NHI White Paper.

This Brief does a comparison between the National Health Insurance (NHI) White Paper and the NHI Green Paper to ascertain differences, advancements and omissions.

Andrew Barlow looks at Brazil's wildly successful Family Health Strategy programme, and how a similar initiative could be rolled out here in South Africa.

Charles Simkins reviews the previous four briefs, pulling together themes and proposing how the government could affect genuinely meaningful change to South Africa's public health system.

The third brief in this series dealt with the two-tier systems used to finance UHC by Israel and the Netherlands. This brief now turns to the single payer system used by Canada.

The second brief in this series dealt with the insurance mandate systems used by Austria and Germany to finance UHC. This brief reviews the two tier systems of Israel and the Netherlands. Two-tier health care is so named because it involves a publically funded basic health package being provided, with a secondary private tier of additional – and often better quality – services available for those who can afford it.

The first brief in this series introduced the concept of Universal Health Coverage, as defined by the World Health Organisation. It looked at how the NHI White Paper released late last year conceives of UHC, and posited that this ambitious single payer system should not be rushed into before other financing systems are considered. This brief describes the UHC systems in Austria and Germany.

The first brief in a five part series contributed to by both Andrew Barlow and Charles Simkins. This brief plays a general and introductory role; as well as considering the conditions needed for UHC success.

This Brief looks at the science behind marijuana and discusses that marijuana is not as bad as Governments want us to think.

Andrew Barlow looks at the UK's NHS - an internationally lauded and nationally loved single-payer universal health care system - and how the many issues its faces are relevant to the recent NHI White Paper and its proposals to implement a similar system here in South Africa.

This Brief looks at the issues at the Health Professions Council of South Africa as well as discusses the Minister of Health's Ministerial Task Team's Report.

This Brief deals with the genetic link requirement in section 294 of the Children's Act which deals with surrogacy agreements and genetic origin of a child, being declared invalid by the High Court in Pretoria.

This Brief discusses the amendment to Regulation 8 of the Medical Schemes Act and what it actually means to members of medical schemes and other stakeholders.

A discussion about Organ Donor Agencies and their regulation in South Africa.

Part 1 in this series provides a summary of the Court's decision in Stransham-Ford.

This brief reviews the Minister of Health's comments on the Medical Malpractice Issues in the Health Sector and responses to such comments

A discussion of the international egg donation programmes which are exploiting South African women amongst other women for the selling of their eggs. The procedures of the egg extractions are also discussed.

This special Brief is a report back on the Competition Commission's Market Inquiry into the Private Healthcare Sector conference.

This Brief reports on a recent seminar hosted by the Albertina Sisulu Executive Leadership Programme addressing the progress and challenges facing National Health Insurance. The Brief focuses on the NHI pilot districts, the concept of Universal Coverage, and raises questions about financing healthcare.

This brief aims to explain the key differences between medical schemes and health insurance and why demarcation between the two is important. Medical schemes, under the protection of the regulation of the Medical Schemes Act, have a large part to play in ensuring the right of access to healthcare. Similar protection is not afforded to other health insurance products. The right to healthcare may, therefore, be watered down if insurance companies, which are not governed by the Medical Schemes Act, are permitted to provide health insurance products similar to those provided by medical schemes.