On eve of budget, N.H.I. still not finalised
On Tuesday, officials from the Public Service Union dropped a bombshell by announcing that according to their sources, the National Health Insurance scheme will be implemented as early as April first. But tonight, government officials tell News 5 that’s not so. According to Cabinet Secretary Robert Leslie, government is still in the process of analysing the results of the pilot project and exploring different payment options. This afternoon, News 5 spoke with Minister of Health Jose Coye to find out where we are with the N.H.I.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Given the rave reviews bestowed on the pilot project of the National Health Insurance, today the Government of Belize says it plans to implement the scheme countrywide in the very near future. And for the residents of the southside of the Belize District who have been enjoying the benefits of the plan, Minister of Health Jose Coye says that level of service will be preserved as much as possible.
Jose Coye, Minister of Health
“I think the results based on the people’s own opinion is a very good one. They felt that hey were able to access quality health care. What do we do when the pilot project come to an end? We cannot just end the pilot project and go back to where we were. So we are in the process now of making the final decision, where do we go next. We want to be able to move on from the pilot project in its conclusion on to beginning to roll out the National Health Insurance throughout the country.”
But the question of the day is where will the money for N.H.I. come from?
Jose Coye
“I know what was being thrown out for discussions before was the payroll tax. But again if you look at the payroll tax as was being done in many countries, it’s seems to place the burden only upon the employees and of course the employer. But if we can broaden it, if we can broaden the base in terms of who all will participate in terms of financing it, which will bring about a pool, a wider pool I must say for the cross subsidisation which is needed, then we need to look at some other form. And we are looking at other forms. We hope that within, by the close of the year, which is March–and the budget will be coming up shortly, they’re budget presentation on Friday–we should be able to come up with some proposals to the people as to how we can finance it.”
But coming up with the money is one thing; organising a nationwide system of health care providers is quite another. N.H.I. may be coming, but how soon is still an unanswered question. Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
News 5 understands that the Prime Minister will be addressing the issue of National Health Insurance during his presentation of the budget on Friday.
