The White Paper on National Health Insurance was published on 11 December.

This draft policy has its origins in debates that emerged in the late 1980s.

For those of you interested in the history of these debates, read the publication below that was published by Wits University’s Centre for Health Policy in 2000.

The document talks about the important design features of different policy proposals during the 1990s, as well as the lessons learned during this time with respect to managing the process of policy development.

The document is out of print, but I’ve managed to resurrect it using an old copy.

Doherty J, McIntyre D, Gilson L, Thomas S, Brijlal V, Bowa C, Mbatsha S. 2000. Social health insurance in South Africa: past, present and future. Johannesburg: Centre for Health Policy, for the Centre for Health Policy (University of the Witwatersrand) and the Health Economics Unit (University of Cape Town).