By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian surgeon yesterday said the Government’s pledge that health insurance coverage for hundreds of public sector workers has “resumed” will be “tested” today amid assertions that premium payment arrears could be as high as $100m.

Dr Duane Sands, also the Opposition’s chairman, told Tribune Business that an open heart surgery he is due to perform today on a patient from one of the impacted government agencies has been “put back on schedule” after initially being cancelled/[postponed on Friday after it emerged that the medical coverage provided by Colina Insurance Company had been suspended for hundreds.

Public sector union leaders accused the Government of playing with the lives and health of their members, including hundreds in the uniformed security services who place themselves in potential harm’s way daily, prompting Senator Latrae Rahming, communications director in the Prime Minister’s Office, to describe the “temporary suspension” of health insurance coverage as “an administrative matter involving co-ordination between the relevant parties”.

“It is being actively addressed and is expected to be resolved,” he pledged, before later posting: “Progress has been made on the administrative matter regarding group insurance coverage for some public officers. Insurance services have resumed. The Government remains committed to supporting public officers and their families.”

The nature of the “administrative matter” was not detailed, and many - including public sector union leaders - voiced scepticism concerning the explanation and argued that it was more likely the Government had neglected to pay the premiums due to Colina, prompting the BISX-listed life and health insurer to suspend coverage.

Among the agencies impacted were the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Defence Force, Customs, Immigration, the prison and teachers. Myles LaRoda, minister of national security, did not reply to a Tribune Business message seeking confirmation that the premium arrears owed to Colina were now as high as $100m, although the two ‘blue ticks’ showed he had read it.

Dr Sands, speaking to the extent to which the health insurance has been restored, and whether this has occurred for all who have been affected, told this newspaper: “We’re going to find out on a case-by-case basis. I have a patient scheduled for open heart surgery who has been put back on schedule and we’ve not been told to shut it down. We’re going to test it.

“The fact they did not say it has been resumed for all creates a real question for many patients. Is it 5 percent, 20 percent, 50 percent? We will test it and see whether we still have a problem.” Dr Sands also challenged whether health insurance coverage for Cabinet ministers and MPs, which he described as “the most extensive, comprehensive plan that exists”, and is also provided by Colina, has been maintained without interruption.

“That will speak clearly in terms of priorities,” he added. “I think we should ask the question: Are Cabinet ministers and MPs still covered, and if many civil servants are not, then Houston, we have a big problem. If they are covered, why is every single civil servant not.”

Documents seen by Tribune Business show there has been a problem with the Colina health insurance coverage for several weeks. A July 3, 2026, sent to Bahamas Department of Corrections staff by Quaid Robinson, a senior executive, revealed that the addition of new persons to the plan had been halted several weeks before in mid-June - a sign of impending trouble.

“Further to the suspension of new enrollment effective June 15, 2026, unfortunately Colina Insurance has suspended all insurance benefits effective July 3, 2026 for all administrative services only (ASO) plans until further notice,” Mr Robinson wrote.

“When the suspension is lifted, all benefits and enrolments will be effective from the date - not retroactive. Please note that any late enrollments during the suspension period will be subject to pre-existing conditions and exclusions and will require underwriting.” Customs officers, too, were warned that “all benefits under the Colina Group insurance plans are suspended until further notice” from July 3.

The BISX-listed insurer’s 2025 audited accounts show that, at year-end, it was owed a $97.073m net “receivable” by unnamed clients with administrative services only plans - the very type referred to by Mr Robinson’s letter. This had increased by almost $8.5m from the $88.656m owed at year-end 2024, with well-placed sources yesterday suggesting that much - but perhaps not all - of these sums relates to what is due from the Government.

Tribune Business was told that the Government has faced a long-standing challenge in paying the group medical coverage insurance premiums due to Colina on behalf of civil servants - with the issue long pre-dating the Davis administration.

“There’s a red line that the Government cannot go past of around $60m-$70m [in arrears],” one contact told this newspaper on condition of anonymity. “It wasn’t no hard and fast number because it was known that Colina had a carrying capacity of what they could tolerate. You also couldn’t go 120 days, 180 days in arrears.” When significant net new borrowings were made, a portion was always devoted to “paying a chunk on the Colina bill”.

“They gave a lot of forbearance, and when you got a chunk of new money you paid it down,” the source added. They suggested that, with the Davis administration needing to “prime the pump” ahead of the general election, monies and cash flow may have become tight for the Government, and it may have been unable to meet the Colina payments. As a resut, the insurer, in a last-ditch bid to secure what was due suspended the policy and coverage.

Kimsley Ferguson, the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) president, told Tribune Business that the medical insurance suspension sends the message to “front line” officers such as the police, Defence Force, Immigration, Customs and prison that they are “not significant”. He added: “I am concerned that the Government has not dealt with this in the order of priority….

“These are the persons in the front line and in more danger than the politicians. It’s really, really a concern for me that the Government has elected to fatten up their salaries as opposed to paying their bills. It is not anything like blame shifting they can do. I met with Colina Insurance who indicated the Government owed them over $100m. That was last year, and they indicated the balance, the cost, the amount of money owed.

“This is no administrative error. This lack of payment, and the Government need to put its priorities in the proper place. These are the lives of people protecting the Bahamian public, and they need to make sure those individuals are properly covered.” The reference to salaries alludes to the proposed legislation that would raise MP’s incomes.

Belinda Wilson, the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president, said it was “very disturbing” and “very troubling” that her members were told on Friday that their Colina Insurance medical cards were not valid and would not be accepted at doctors’ offices, hospitals and pharmacies. “We have members who are hospitalised, in hospice care, who have surgeries scheduled, and they cannot be accommodated,” she warned.