By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Perry Gomez yesterday criticised Marco City MP Greg Moss for saying that National Health Insurance makes no sense in The Bahamas, and blasted the former PLP member for not understanding the global significance of the proposed scheme.

Dr Gomez accused Mr Moss of spewing “foolishness” by suggesting that the government was wasting its time by attempting to implement universal healthcare coverage in the country. He further questioned “which planet” Mr Moss lives on, as he said The Bahamas is just one out of many countries in support of implementing some form of universal healthcare for their citizens.

Dr Gomez also said that the government is “well on the way” in its attempts at ensuring a successful January 1, 2016 rollout of NHI, and said that from a “facilities point-of-view,” the government is doing “pretty well” in ensuring that the various healthcare institutions are ready to handle the proposed scheme.

However, he said “whatever shortfalls” the government may experience while rolling out the proposed scheme will be made up for “as we register patients” during the first phase of NHI.

Dr Gomez did not reveal how much NHI would cost to implement, however, he only stated that it will cost “plenty money.”

Last week, Mr Moss told The Nassau Guardian that NHI makes no sense in the Bahamas because of the existence of the country’s public healthcare system, which he said equated to having universal healthcare coverage. The newly elected leader of the United Democratic Party said the government is instead seeking to use NHI as a way to tax Bahamians for the free healthcare they already receive by way of the public health system.

Dr Gomez said yesterday: “I was away for the past week, and I see a ridiculous headline by (Mr Moss) saying it makes no sense. Well I don’t know which planet he lives on, because NHI is being proposed by the entire world, that it’s on the post-2015 UN agenda. And he’s talking about it don’t make any sense?”

Dr Gomez added: “You got to dismiss that. That’s foolishness, when it is the best way of getting equity in healthcare, whether you’re in the Bahamas or South Africa. That’s why it’s on the world health agenda. And now it was put on the post-2015 developmental agenda by the United Nations. What else does he want? What else does anybody want? My God.”

Dr Gomez also insisted that the government is on track in its efforts to ensure a smooth January 1 rollout.

“Remember, we start with registration for the first three months of the year, so I don’t think that’s going to be a difficulty for us, so whatever shortfalls we may have and so on, there’s time to catch up as we register patients,” he said.

“We are, from facilities point-of-view, I think we are doing very well in getting our institutions ready,” he added. “You’ve heard me mention about health system strengthening, we’ve been doing that all year, getting our different clinics built up, improved, becoming state of the art, for the equipment that is previously there. I feel comfortable in what we’re doing.”

Asked by reporters if the government was experiencing any challenges with regards to NHI to date, Dr Gomez said: “There’s always challenges in anything you do, and you have to keep the faith and ride over it.”

Officials have said NHI will be phased in over a five-year period. The government has allocated $60m for the first phase of NHI.

According to Sanigest Internacional, the government’s Costa Rican consultants on NHI, the scheme could cost up to $633m if implemented as a comprehensive package. On the low end, NHI could cost around $362m.

However, the government has yet to reveal how much NHI will cost and how it plans to pay for the proposed scheme.

Recently, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the government’s main goal ahead of the proposed implementation date is ensuring that the country’s medical infrastructure can deliver the quality service “that fits the amount charged.”

Mr Christie said, despite public fears, his administration would not institute any form of taxation for NHI prior to July 2016, which is the start of the new fiscal cycle. He also stressed that none of the time lines associated with NHI have changed.

However, a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has stated that the Bahamian healthcare system is “not ready” for NHI, and will face a major challenge in coping with “an initial surge in demand for services.”

PwC added that the demand-driven rise in healthcare costs will impose “significant pressure” on the Christie administration to either increase taxes, or re-allocate spending away from other high priority public services to finance NHI.

The government did not release that report. However, it was made public through the media.