The National Council of Provinces has extended the deadline for submissions on the National Health Insurance Bill until the middle of September.
The chairperson of the select committee on health and social services in the NCOP, Zoyisile Njadu, said they had received requests from a number of stakeholders to extend the deadline. He said the stakeholders were from the health sector in the country.
Initially, the committee had set September 1 for the public to make submissions on the NHI Bill, but the new deadline is now September 15.
The Bill was passed by the National Assembly a few months ago.
It will create universal health coverage for South Africa.
The National Assembly referred the bill to the NCOP for concurrence.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla made a presentation to the NCOP a day after it was adopted by the national assembly.
Njadu said they now want members of the public to comment on it.
"The purpose of the bill is to establish and maintain a NHI Fund funded through mandatory prepayment that aims to achieve sustainable and affordable universal access to quality health care services.
"The fund will operate on the basis of single purchaser and single payer of health care services by pooling funds and strategic purchasing of healthcare services and goods from accredited and contracted health care service providers. The NHI envisages a standardised healthcare system, wherein everyone, rich and poor, rural and urban, can receive the same level of quality healthcare," said Njadu.
"The NHI is a fund from which the government will buy healthcare services for South Africans from healthcare providers both in the public and private sectors. It is a fund to pay for healthcare, and all of us will contribute to this fund through taxes and special contributions in line with what we can afford. It will ensure that everyone is entitled to free healthcare when they need it, and there will be no fees charged at the facility because the fund will cover the costs of care," he added.
Some of the political parties have questioned NHI, saying it was not clear how much it would cost.
Other parties have already threatened to take the department to court and urged President Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the bill into law after it has been passed by both houses.
But Phaahla told parliament when the bill was passed in the National Assembly and during his presentation in the NCOP that he was prepared to defend it in court.
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