On 14 August Business Day reported that Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has requested the High Court to “consolidate all cases and suspend proceedings regarding the NHI Act until a separate but related legal battle involving President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to sign the Act is finalised”.
The Act is facing six separate legal challenges from organisations including the trade union Solidarity, the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), the Health Funders Association (HFA), the Hospital Association of SA (HASA), and doctor groups SAMA and SAPPF.
Several of these organisations, including the HFA, HASA and Solidarity, said they will oppose the Minister's application to stay proceedings. They argue that allowing the Government to pause the legal challenges would enable the Minister to proceed with NHI implementation, causing "irreparable harm" to the nation's healthcare system and economy.
“As an incentive to agree to the stay, the Minister has offered to suspend the implementation of the controversial Section 33 of the NHI Act. This section is one of the most contentious, as it drastically reduces the role of medical schemes, limiting them to providing cover only for services not included under the NHI.”
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