By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

There will be ‘no qualifying distinction’ between BahamaCare and private insurers under National Health Insurance (NHI) according to the recently released NHI policy document.

The policy paper entitled, ‘Building a Healthier Bahamas’, notes that under NHI, the choice of insurers ‘is envisioned to be provided by competing private insurers and the introduction of a public insurer,” which is proposed to be called ‘BahamaCare’. The insurer will be publicly owned but privately managed by a privately operated regulated health administrator which was one of the recommendations by the government’s NHI consultants KPMG. BahamaCare will only offer health insurance.

“It would operate as a publicly owned, privately operated regulated health administrator and not offer any other type of insurance. Like private insurers in The Bahamas, BahamaCare will be subject to the regulatory regime of the Insurance Commission of The Bahamas (ICB) and there will be no qualifying distinction between BahamaCare and private insurers under NHI Bahamas, save to the extent that BahamaCare will be restricted in its product offering,” the policy document states.

It further notes that: “Approved private insurers under NHI Bahamas will offer the legally-required services. In addition, these insurers may compete for new customers in an expanded marketplace by offering supplemental insurance. Strategic purchasing, population health management and consumer responsiveness are also important drivers of competition among insurers.”

The Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) had suggested that the Government abandon plans to establish a public NHI insurer because there was no need for it. The BIA, and its member life and health insurers, argued that creating the public insurer, to be known as BahamaCare, would be a great expense and waste of taxpayer monies by the Government, given that its role would be duplicated by the private sector.