The taxation of the web shop industry and the revenue expected from the impending value-added tax (VAT) will likely help the government address the swelling projected costs of National Health Insurance (NHI), according to Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) President John Pinder.
Speaking with NB12, Pinder acknowledged that the government had underestimated the colossal cost of implementing the program, but he remains confident that the government is taking the appropriate steps to raise the funds for the first tranche, valued at a minimum of $350 million.
"The government must be applauded for taking some steps to try to implement a national health plan. Yes, the government may have under-budgeted what they thought the health plan [would] cost.
"I believe with the VAT coming into play now, and the web shops [being legalized, regulated and taxed] this will help them in some way to raise those funds," said Pinder, adding that NHI is "badly needed" and BPSU members are "depending" on the implementation of the program.
Pinder, a member of the NHI steering committee, estimated in September that the healthcare program could cost upward of $500 million. However, Prime Minister Perry Christie stated last week that NHI would ultimately cost $600 million, more than twice the projected cost in 2002.
Christie noted that NHI would likely be rolled out in two to three phases to address specific diseases and ailments, with more details to be released sometime in 2015. Christie assured that the government would rollout NHI January 1, 2016, but no clear implementation details have been provided.
While Pinder is reasonably confident that the government would be able to finance the project in stages, he felt that the government would need to revert to a "plan B" if it was unable to execute its tranches on time.
"I'm still hoping that that happens. If they can't do NHI straight across the board, they certainly have to provide all civil servants with a health insurance plan," he said.
The government enlisted the services of Costa Rican healthcare consultancy Sanigest Internacional in April to determine NHI's total cost. While the government received Sanigest's report in September, it has thus far refused to make the findings public.

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