NHI Bill- Health Committee briefed by Parliamentary Legal Service & State Law Advisors

Parliament, Wednesday 15 March 2023 – The Portfolio Committee on Health was briefed by the Parliamentary Legal Services and the State Law Advisors on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.

This committee briefing forms part of the legislative processes for the NHI Bill. The briefing forms part of the process the committee must undertake to ensure that the Bill goes through the proper parliamentary processes. The committee has conducted a public participation process of provincial and virtual public hearings. Following that, the committee received inputs from the Department of Health (which is the sponsor of the Bill) responding to the inputs and recommendations received during the public participation process. Thereafter, the committee conducted clause by clause deliberations of the Bill.

Committee Chairperson Dr Kenneth Jacobs said the briefing today provided the committee with a legal opinion on the Bill. Further engagement will resume next week when the members meet to discuss the legal practitioners’ input.