Aah...ok so they tried to implement a plan that they needed three other parties, health insurance insurers, medical providers and the public to participate in, but they neglected to bring those parties in at the start. Recipe for disaster, even **if** you talking sense.

She is not totally incorrect in her assessment .............. this country is FULL of morons and money grabbing asses ......... in every sector of the economy ......... what is new?????
Healthcare is controlled by a select few, construction is controlled by a select few, Wholesale is controlled by a select few, and so is insurance, petroleum, etc ............ DUHHHHHH

This NHI is being rushed and has all the makings of a disaster. They have no idea how much it will cost and who or how it will be paid for. Just take one look at the PMH and tell me you have confidence the government, any Bahamian government will get NHI right. Actually tell me any government of the Bahamas scheme that has been devoid of corruption, theft, and failure. The government of The Bahamas is the biggest threat to The Bahamas there is period!

"I’m off to help countries that actually value my contributions. Good luck ya’ll.”

Mind and close the door!

Dont let the door hit you in the ass while you closing it LOL

Whoooops!!

Guess she missed the $100,000,000.00 spend that was wasted.

Doubt she has ever run a business. Sure can't be running one now.

the mere fact that she is married to Mr. Cercone, disqualifies her from continuing to be paid with government dollars. So I wonder whether she was married by Mr. Cercone before or after she started working for the NHI projects for the government in 2000. Sounds like in the middle ages, power and influence through marriage.

she met and married him long after she began working on those projects.

But they were married when the government decided to throw millions of our tax dollars over to her husbands company who it's pretty clear will just go along with what she had been pushing this whole time. This is why there are such things as conflicts of interest.

Honestly, what the hell? They hire the company that is run and owned by this woman's husband! This has got to be a joke. Was this an open tender? Who else applied for this consulting job, or was it just handed to one person that would do nothing more than go along with all of the work his wife had previously done.

This is so typical of this government. Corruption and graft, non stop and right in front of us. These people are thieves, they are stealing from us every single day.

Turns out Etoile and her husband are the real money grubbing asses.

This place is almost not even worth saving.

But ................... what is so wrong with her assessment????????????? Are we satisfied with the present quality/cost of healthcare that we have now??? take time to study our dismal health statistics and then make a sensible suggestion on how to improve our public health system

takes one to know one lady......

Sheeprunner, do not forget the Government is controlled by a select few also........

Comrades if the PM hired me as his chief political strategist, I would tell him there is no better enemy needed than insurance companies. They can be turned into the jewel of all enemies.Voters will help you eat them up.

Let's focus here. Government Official ADMITS to $100,000,000.00 or 25% to 30% of governments annual budget is for healthcare is wasted.

We can afford this NHI **but not unless** we put PHA etc. in order first.

We have to clean out the corruption and the usual public corporation slackness and political interference now BEFORE we start NHI.

If we don't we will just be pouring money into a broken system and get nothing out.

Comrade Economist I see the official's admission of waste as there is even more of a $100 million urgent reason to rush to introduce "Universal" Healthcare. The $100 million is on the conservative side the ledger.

Tal, we would surely then be giving more money to be wasted or am I missing something here?
I am not sure that I understand the point you are making.

Comrade pure money alone thrown into anything by civilians has never had positive results - so it is foolish to think a government can make it work .
I have never heard or read of a single word from the PM, Minnis or even Bran, that directly addresses poverty. Have you?
Seriously doubt they even bothered to mention "poverty" anywhere in either of the PLP, FNM or DNA's 2012 election manifestos?

Tal, the money was wasted by useless officials who don't know what they are doing and never will, but your solution is to give them more money.

Do you believe any of what you type here or are you just being contrary every chance you get?

good for you Etoile!! i don't blame you. and i think most intelligent, informed Bahamians completely understand your frustration (although maybe not the execution :). I am sure you know that you are not alone and many of the productive, middle class Bahamians who have been fighting to build this country have just had enough - of the crime, the corruption and the apathetic attitude of Bahamians and so they are simply leaving. It's sad that we are in this position but there does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. the commenters above who disagree with your position and who continue to defend the PLP and previous governments are the people who ultimately the problem in this country.

Her position is in line with the PLP, not against it. She heads a PLP project. She is part of the problem and the fact that she managed to get her husbands company involved shows you exactly why this country is falling apart. Wake up!

Again we have a serious national discussion which has descended into personalities. It doesn't really concern me what one individual thinks. We as Bahamians should be asking the question as to how we address the lack of access to healthcare in this country. A lot of resource is spent without proper direction and this is across the board in the public sector. The medical community should be leading this charge in my opinion not resistant to it. Physicians are often times frustrated with the quality and pace of things in the current system. But still they sit in it and complain. Healthcare requires a lot of human resource and collaboration. Bahamians need to work together to start solving our country's problems. Not every issue has to be so contentious and argumentative. Healthcare is a big deal. I wouldn't want politics and personal issues to cloud this discussion. But alas we make everything a blood sport here.

It is certainly not helpful and some may say unprofessional when a consultant begins using dehumanizing rhetoric to describe the "stakeholders" of a project she has been leading. Indeed, in my view, it probably says more about her than the stakeholders. If she is as intelligent, as it appears she believes, and the NHI scheme "is all that" as she also appears to believe, then it would seem a small issue to eviscerate the small minded questions from these "morons" with reasoned and compelling arguments supporting the strength and efficacy of her NHI scheme. The fact is that serious questions have been put forward about this proposed NHI scheme and they deserve serious answers not name calling. Granted some of the answers are political but answers are needed all the same. In my view the stakeholders and all of us should be concerned about this NHI scheme which is scheduled to be implemented in a few months but no one can explain how much it will costs, how it will be funded and by whom nor what it would look like. Further, the analysis and projections, in my view are inherently faulty and shallow. They underestimated the trade-offs and the free rider, moral hazard and systemic corruption factors already inherent in the fabric of our society. It also pays little attention to the supply side dynamics and infrastructural factors once we have exploded the demand for medical services as it is intended to do and if you ask five people which economic or societal problem this NHI scheme is intended to solve you would get five different answers. Maybe healthcare is a fundamental human right, but let's have a real debate about exactly what that means, what societal or economic problem we are trying to solve, how much will it costs, how will it be funded and who is going to pay for it, what are the trade-offs and consequences for society of using scarce resources for healthcare instead of some other societal issue and most importantly how will the design of the health care program influence the incentives for stakeholders and beneficiaries to behave in this or that way.

If you are going to dance with the devil...as in...work hand in hand with the government (PLP/FNM/DNA or other) then you need to have the political prowess to deal with the varying levels of stupidity. It's only going to get worse as they try to figure out as many ways as humanly possible to get their fingers into the pie.

But ............ I am still waiting for someone to refute her description of those who control the health/life/medical insurance industry in The Bahamas ...................... and all other sectors where there is a special interest group that wants to protect their wealth or control