Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says government has been given assurances that the controversial National Health Insurance Bill is constitutional and vowed to work to dispel fears that it would lead to corruption and cripple the country financially.
Mkhize was facing questions about the bill in the portfolio committee on health on Thursday amid warnings from several sides that it was ripe for constitutional challenge.
Chief state law advisor Ayesha Johaar told MPs the bill was certified on the 29th of July.
She said state law advisors viewed it not only as being in line with the Constitution but written to give effect to the right to access health care services enshrined in Section 27 of the Constitution.
Mkhize told the media this week that government would handle the implementation of the NHI cautiously and had no intention of bankrupting the country.
It is aimed at addressing the imbalance in the health care system which currently sees 84 percent of the population rely on an understaffed public system while 16 percent have access to private health care. - ANA
