Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts' assertion that the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) does not want the government involved in universal health insurance because it wants private insurers to form a "monopolistic cartel" is "nonsensical", BIA Chairman Emmanuel Komolafe said yesterday.
"Mr. Roberts... determined that [we] want to fix prices," said Komolafe, who was contacted for comment.
"But if you look at the proposal, it calls for the government to establish by law a body that determines the premium rates. So, if they determine the premium, how could it be the case that you have a cartel? The insurers will not determine the rate under this proposal."
He added, "Now all of this, bear in mind, is to assist us toward this journey towards universal healthcare."
While insisting he wants to avoid a "back and forth", Komolafe said the BIA believes its proposal is clear and geared toward offering affordable premiums to the general population with the government's proposed vital benefits plan.
In a counterproposal to the government's plan for National Health Insurance (NHI), the BIA has called for the removal of value added tax (VAT) from all medical services and medical insurance, and the reduction of premium taxes in order to make health care more affordable. The BIA also called for the establishment of a legislated body made up of the industry, the government and civil society to set rates for the plan.
The BIA proposal, "A framework for universal health coverage in The Bahamas", said that health care should not be penalized by taxation.
The plan was published more than a week ago. The government is set to implement the first phase of NHI on January 1.
During a meeting of the PLP's National General Council last Thursday night, Roberts questioned how, with no public insurer and one private health insurance "cartel", would industry competition be protected.
"The BIA proposal calls for mandatory health insurance coverage and a penalty for non-payment; caps on medical fees but no caps on insurance premiums payable to them nor is there a democratic process to justify proposed premium hikes," Roberts charged.
"While I do not knock the private sector for protecting their economic interests by maximizing shareholder value, the role of government is quite different in that the public interest must be protected at all times and under all circumstances.
"The government must use the instruments of the state to improve the quality of life for each citizen."
But Komolafe asserted that anyone who reads the BIA's proposal will realize a lot of issues being raised are non-issues.
"I do not want to get into the back and forth because we believe that the proposal is so clear as to what it is we are proposing," he said. "This becomes nonsensical quite frankly. When you look at a cartel, what is a cartel?
"You have companies that compete against one another entering into a formal agreement to fix prices. That is not the case here at all. In fact, all of the insurance companies compete against one another and you don't fix prices. We are not asking that they fix prices."
The government has yet to reveal how much the NHI scheme will cost. According to a report completed by Costa Rican consultants Sanigest Internacional, NHI would cost between $362 million on the low end and $633 million on the high end, annually. In October, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the government is considering a tax to fund NHI in the next fiscal year.
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