Discovery’s chief executive Adrian Gore has once again sounded the alarm bells against government’s “problematic” National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, warning it would need exorbitant tax hikes to fund. Gore said that the implementation of the NHI Act, in its current form, will essentially wreck the South African economy. He made these comments at the company’s annual Discovery Day event and further emphasised that the scheme was unworkable and unfeasible.
“This is a complex issue. It is an intergenerational process that will take time, but it is a problematic piece of legislation,” Gore said. “We have been unequivocal as business, as Discovery, and as a sector, that the NHI is unworkable without private sector collaboration, ” he said.
“There is just not enough funding available if the NHI is imposed in a draconian form that excludes private medical aids,” Gore added. Discovery has created a tax list that South Africa would need to implement to fund the roughly R200 billion needed for NHI each year. According to Discovery, they claim government would need to institute: “That would wreck the economy and does not do enough for anyone.
You need more funding,” Gore emphasised. A flawed piece of legislation In May, Gore described the NHI Act as “flawed” and that it would take decades to implement the universal healthcare system. "We see no scenario in which there is sufficient funding for a workable and comprehensive NHI in its current form, hence.