Cabinet has approved the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill for tabling in Parliament, Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said on Thursday.

Briefing journalists on the outcomes of the fortnightly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mthembu said the inputs received from the 2018 three month consultation process have been included in the latest version of the bill. 

"The NHI Bill provides for the establishment of the NHI Fund as a public entity reporting to the Minister of Health. It will be established as an autonomous schedule 3A under the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999)," said Mthembu.

"Once the Bill has been passed, the existing draft implementation plan will be amended accordingly to give effect to the transitional arrangement of rolling out the NHI in phases. The transition period will also allow for the repeal of certain pieces of legislation to enable alignment and coherence."

Mthembu said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize would unpack the contents of the bill at a later stage.