At the request of the South African Human Rights Commission, CHP’s Director, Prof Jane Goudge, made a written submission entitled: “The South African Private Health Sector” to the Commission’s hearings on the private sector. This was on behalf of the Centre for Health Policy, the School of Public Health as well as the Public Health Association of South Africa.
The submission gave an overview of the principles of healthcare financing systems that improve access to care; a summary of incentives in the private sector and the role of regulation; an example of access to quality and integrated care denied; and elements of a well-functioning healthcare financing system.
The submission concludes that the most important step is to establish a regulator with access to the necessary information, the capacity to analyse, and the authority and capacity to intervene, and to adjust the regulatory interventions as the sector responds to regulations. Providing training in micro-economics, and building the skills necessary to staff an effective regulator, is crucial to this end.
Click here to read the submission.