Aquina Thulare

South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) is one of the boldest attempts in decades to close the yawning and widening gap between a well-resourced private sector and an underfunded public health system. The NHI Act, signed into law on 15 May 2024, marks a crucial legal step by the state to implement legal and policy reforms to progressively realise every South African’s right to health, as part of the country’s phased approach to achieve universal health coverage (UHC).

In a nutshell, under the National Health Insurance (NHI), a centralised fund will procure a package of health services from both the public and private sectors in an effort to provide all South Africans — regardless of their ability to pay for services — with free access to healthcare. Covid-19 has challenged and crippled the country’s healthcare systems, putting NHI in the spotlight. The pandemic highlighted the importance of NHI for all and that we cannot afford to ignore the scheme.