BY KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday defended his administration’s handling of National Health Insurance and insisted that while the process has been delayed, he hopes the government is able to roll out the primary care phase by January 2017.

He also told parliamentarians that the government has made the decision to send out a global bid for a public health insurer. The process will not discriminate against local health insurance companies, Mr Christie said.

However, as government-hired consultants have said the primary phase cannot be implemented in the absence of a public insurer, which could take eight months to establish, Mr Christie’s timeline seems ambitious.

He did not reveal when the government planned to release requests for proposals to establish a public insurer.

“When we are talking about costs, the government has decided to go to a global bid for a public health insurer,” the prime minister said during the wrap up of debate on the NHI Bill in the House of Assembly.

“That means that the government on behalf of the people of this country will make an intervention on the area of insurance.

“A public health insurer is only intended to cover primary health care not to compete against the other interventions of the private sector.

“But in that global bid, the private insurance companies here, any one or any number of them, will be eligible to bid because the government will have the group selected manage the public insurance.

“But the public insurer is not going to allow pre-existing illnesses or someone as old as me to be disallowed. It’s going to be them to protect the interest of those Bahamians who have been disallowed insurance and yes it should stabilise prices.”

He continued: “When it rolls out, I hope by January, the people of this country will sing free at last, free at last. (They will be) free to access care that could save the children.

“All of my colleagues who have the responsibility must know they are accountable to get it done and make this happen. The people of this country will have their lives influenced for the better by what we intend to bring about by the end of this year (or) the beginning of next year in this country. We must not fail to recognise it represents a new day in the delivery of healthcare in this country.”

Regarding the criticism levelled at his administration over NHI, Mr Christie said the structure the government has undertaken is working and will ensure the initiative is implemented properly.

“So all of the matters to do with the functioning of primary care and access of Bahamians to that we are satisfied that we are laying the basis of a wonderful programme.

“I am saying that we are going to phase, like every other county, introducing National Health Insurance, we are going to phase this in and we are going to do it and build upon the experience and we are going to do it comprehensively and we are going to do it as best we can.”

Earlier this month, Health Minister Dr Perry Gomez hinted at how the government may decide to fund NHI as it expands in scope, noting that other countries have taxed “unhealthy substances” like alcohol and tobacco as well as high salt and high sugar products to fund healthcare.

It was the closest a government representative has come to discussing how it may fund the ambitious and expensive plan.

He positioned the NHI project in a long line of progressive accomplishments achieved by the Progressive Liberal Party, similar to the establishment of the National Insurance Board (NIB) and the imminent transition of the College of The Bahamas into a university.

However, at the time Dr Gomez did not say when the first phase of NHI - primary healthcare - will be introduced nor did he provide a timeline for events relating to the scheme.