By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said the draft legislation for National Health Insurance is finished and will likely be discussed in Cabinet today.

His statement came after he told reporters last week that the government may move to bring a new NHI bill to Parliament within three months.

Earlier in December, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson told The Tribune that the government was aiming to produce the new bill sometime in January 2016.

Mr Christie said Saturday: “We’re working on (NHI). The attorney general has just advised that the new legislation is finished. I expect that we would take it to Cabinet as early as Tuesday for the beginning of our review of it. We have it all laid out completely what we want to do for the first six months (of) NHI and I anticipate that there’s going to be more and more exposure in the introduction of NHI.”

Earlier this month, Dr Duane Sands, a cardiothoracic surgeon and former Free National Movement (FNM) senator, said the absence of the legislation shows that the government is “rushing” to roll out its universal healthcare plan and “making things up” as it goes along.

“If you are going to be registering people (for NHI) beginning in January, the only legal basis by which the government is able to collect sensitive information from the public is if they have the enabling legislative authority to do so,” he told The Tribune.

“Where is the legislation that gives the government the authority to do it? What are you going to get in exchange, how will that information be protected, who will have access to it, etc?”

The Christie administration has been under heavy criticism over its NHI plans from the FNM, the business community and health insurance stakeholders.

The Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) has proposed numerous recommendations to the government, asking it to scratch plans to establish a public insurer, create and enforce a health insurance mandate and remove value added tax from healthcare services and premiums.

Thus far, however, it is unclear if the government will accede to any of their requests, with the Ministry of Finance last week quashing a report from BIA Chairman Emmanuel Komolafe that the government would consider the removal of VAT from heath services and insurance.

In a statement to the press, the Department of Inland Revenue, said: “. . .The Ministry of Finance advises the public that no proposals have been put forward by the Ministry of Finance to remove the VAT from health care services.

“The ministry is aware that various stakeholders, including Bahamas Insurance Association, have questioned whether healthcare should be exempt from VAT. The ministry however has explained to stakeholders that adjustments to the VAT system cannot be made independently of technical advice on how the government can offset any reduction in revenue sources, or advice on how the government can continue to maintain the current low VAT rate. The current system of minimum exemptions also allows health care providers to recover the VAT paid on goods and services used in their operations in a fashion that is fully transparent to consumers.

“The benefits from VAT have already increased the government’s financial flexibility, adding the capacity to finance the initial proposed NHI benefits and some healthcare systems strengthening. The Ministry of Finance is working closely with the NHI secretariat to evaluate proposals that would preserve the financial viability of the scheme as the NHI benefits are increased over time.”