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The NHI is based on the constitutional right of every person to have a basic minimum level of health care, irrespective of their ability to pay for it. At the moment, about 16% of South Africans have some sort of medical aid or medical insurance and the rest rely on government hospitals and clinics. This means that only the wealthy receive first world health care. The rest of the nation must do with what they can get from their local clinic or provincial hospital. Government-provided health care has seen a significant drop in standards in the past 25 years. It has been subject to the same incompetence, corruption and nepotism as other government departments with the result that the standards of health care have fallen. The NHI seeks to provide everyone in the country with the same standard of health care, but the cost of doing this is beyond a small country like South Africa. Even in the UK and the US with their massive A/B income populations, offering a comprehensive national health care system has proved extremely challenging. The NHI was passed by the National Council of Provinces in the first week of December 2023 and only now awaits President Ramaphosa's signature to make it law. In an article in the Business Day of 11/12/23, CEO of Discovery Healthcare, Adrian Gore, said that the funds necessary to run the NHI would not be available from existing members of medical aids and that taxes would have to be raised substantially. He suggested that VAT would have to be raised from 15% to 21,5% or personal income taxes raised by 31%. He drew attention to the fact that even if the money were available, it would only amount to about R714 per person per annum - one quarter of the funds available to individuals in the UK for their NHS. Clearly, the system is totally impractical and will cause a massive decline in the quality and availability of healthcare in South Africa. For information on the NHI go to <a href="https://www.health.gov.za/index.php/nhi">https://www.health.gov.za/index.php/nhi</a>

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