After state capture, healthcare is arguably the biggest issue in South Africa right now. The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has been submitted to Parliament. It outlines an ambitious plan to re-engineer the inequalities between the private and public health systems, bringing universal healthcare to all, along the lines of the United Kingdom’s NHS.

NHI has its critics, and could yet take decades to implement. But its naysayers need to pause and consider a new report from the Competition Commission, which highlights just how bad a deal customers currently get from private insurers and service providers. Whichever way you look at it, healthcare in South Africa is sick – and many are looking to modernisation and technology to off er a restorative shot in the arm.