By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Perry Gomez said yesterday that with approximately $80m being spent annually on health care outside the Bahamas, the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) and modernisation of the public health care system should help to curb some of that outflow and allow local health care providers to benefit.

During the debate on the National Health Insurance Bill yesterday, Dr Gomez noted that more than 200,000 Bahamians are without health insurance. The NHI Bill was tabled in Parliament last week, with several stakeholders expressing disappointment that the revised Bill had still not addressed some outstanding concerns and had not been shown to them before it was tabled.

Dr Gomez said that more than 80 changes had been made to the draft Bill, telling Parliament yesterday that the revised Bill represented a significant improvement over the draft. Dr Gomez noted that while many persons assume that under NHI they will be required to go to a public health facility that will not be the case.

“NHI will allow members to receive their care from public as well as private sector doctors, laboratories, pharmacies that have become registered NHI providers. The ability to access health are services in both public and private facilities is one of the key feature of the NHI plan,” said Dr Gomez.

Dr Gomez noted that it is estimated that primary care under NHI will cost about $100m per year. “This amount would be adjusted each year to reflect the increase to the benefits package, the impact of inflation, as well as changes in the demand for health services,” he said. That money, he noted, will be transferred to the National Health Insurance Authority through the Consolidated Fund.