The proposed National Health Insurance

[Nish]

Following the numerous articles and comments made about the proposed National Health Insurance, I have come to the conclusion that everyone has similar thoughts on the subject. It is an excellent idea in theory, especially for a 1st world country. Unfortunately, we are not living in a 1st world country and we won't manage to sustain a free healthcare system. Everyone deserves free and proper healthcare, it is a basic human need that should not go unattended and I commend the government for trying to fulfill this need. The problem I have is that while public healthcare does need attention, it is not this country's biggest concern. The amount of people paying tax is far too low and the unemployment rate is excessive and this leads me to our education system, which is a appalling. If we cannot increase the number of educated people in this country, we will never increase the amount of tax-payers. Education is key for a 1st world democratic society, something which we are not. More attention needs to be paid to the flailing education system because education is linked to every aspect of life. Our government needs to start thinking long-term in that if they succeed in saving our education system, the ramifications will exceed their wildest expectations. Coming back to the proposed NHI, the burden placed on the tax-payers is far too great. People are either going to suffer and pay the tax (the irony of death and taxes in this case is painfully funny), or leave the country, two situations which should not be allowed to take place in a democratic society. Another problem is that while reading through all of the comments and valid points that were being made, I wondered if they were really going to be heard? No matter what we say, our voices remain silenced because our government chooses not to hear us. There is no legitimate public forum where the citizens can raise their concerns and will be taken into consideration. I admire everyone for taking the time to comment and present their opinion, but who are we presenting it to? My fear is that we are presenting it to no one... When the citizens in a "democracy" are silenced, it becomes deafening...

[Dave A]

Great first post, Nish

[AndyD]

One thing that struck me about the new NHI is that there are many people at present who do not have full medical aid but do have a basic hospital plan which is costing them a few hundred Rands each month. If these people are burdened with the cost of the NHI through some form of taxation then there is a good chance they will drop their existing hospital plan and become reliant on the new NHI system instead. The numbers of people who will be dependents of the new NHI scheme may therefore be very much higher than the present estimates.

[Dave S]

And a greater burden on the small tax-paying percentage