South Africa unveils universal health care scheme

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14504628

South Africa's government has set out its plans to introduce a universal health care scheme.

A pilot scheme in 10 areas is to start in April 2012, and will then be phased in nationally over the next 14 years.

"These first steps towards establishing national health insurance are truly historic," the health minister said.

Analysts say South Africa is one of the world's most unequal societies, where quality health care is skewed towards the private sector

[glowing]

1. So now even s Africa is advancing past us. How bought are our politicians?

[Selatius]

2. From what I read in the article, it seems like it will contain private/public elements.

A socialist style system would be like Great Britain's National Health Service, where it's totally government run, and the people in it are public employees. South Africa currently does have public clinics as well as private insurance, but if the plan contains both elements, it could be a system that has a Public Option as well as the option to use private insurance. The main complaint is that 80% of the population is too poor to afford private insurance, hence the existence of public clinics, which are under-staffed and overworked in that country.

Ideally, had not the US Congress been so bent to the right, the US government could've instituted some form of insurance mandate with a Public Option for those who could least afford it and those who wish to choose the Public Option. As it stands, it only provides subsidies on a sliding scale to the poorest while requiring them to purchase private insurance, and no Public Option exists at all.

[Syrinx]

3. is it a scheme or a plan?

[3waygeek]

4. The latter...

in UK English, the word scheme doesn't have the negative connotations it does in US English.

[WillyT]

5. Damn... I Wish We Had That... Sigh...

:shrug:

:kick: & Rec!!!

:hi: