Health Minister insists NHI tax credit changes won’t push people off private medical aid
The Minister said the NHI Act does not force anyone to abandon their medical aids
Image: GCIS
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi says the removal of medical aid tax credits under the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act will not force anyone to leave their private medical schemes.
This comes as the move continues to face mounting concerns from the healthcare industry and middle-class South Africans, who warn that cutting the rebate could make private medical aid unaffordable.
In a parliamentary reply to questions posed by DA member of Parliament, DA MP Dr Karl Le Roux, the Minister said the NHI Act does not force anyone to abandon their medical aids.
"The issue of the medical tax credits is not necessarily the Minister’s position but it is what is contained in Section 49 of the NHI Act, 2003 (Act No. 20 of 2023), which was passed by Parliament".
"The NHI Act has got no section stating that people would be ‘forced to abandon their medical," the Minister said.
He added that scheme members and their beneficiaries would continue to choose between private and public healthcare providers, and that redirecting funds from medical aid tax credits could strengthen public healthcare for the majority of South Africans.
"The attention is drawn to the facts of the NHI Act that nobody without a medical tax credit will be forced to ‘access medical care through the public health sector’. Scheme members and their beneficiaries will continue to choose between accessing private or public providers as they do now".
Motsoaledi also explained that the R33 billion currently going toward medical aid tax credits could instead be redirected to the public health system.
"The impact we know now, as things stand, is that because of medical tax credits, R33 billion, which would have gone a long way to help the poor in the public sector, is being moved from the fiscus to subsidise people like you and me, who we believe are well off than the majority of the population.
"If that amount of money is rather made available to the public healthcare system, then the poor would benefit immensely. We wish to remind you that the public sector caters for 86% of the population, whereas the private sector, where this R33 billion is headed to, caters for only 14% of the population".
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