If the government was to "hesitate again" to implement National Health Insurance (NHI), hundreds of people would die because they cannot afford adequate healthcare, Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday.
"You have to look at that category in the country that are protected because they can pay for their insurance," said Christie, as he addressed the 9th International Labour Organization (ILO) meeting of the Caribbean Ministers of Labour at the British Colonial Hilton.
"And you have to call a spade a spade because if we hesitate again, there are people by the hundreds, who when we analyze why they died, it will be because they didn't have the means or even the knowledge or they didn't live in a country that provided [healthcare] through the intervention of the state and would be subject to the same animalistic manifestation that only the strongest survive.
"That's the choice we have."
Several months before the 2007 general election, the first Christie administration brought an NHI Bill to Parliament. Although the bill was passed, the election took place before the promised regulations to flesh out the details of NHI were presented. Christie hit back at politicians who criticized the government's NHI plans, and charged that the state contributes to many of their health insurance plans.
On Monday, FNM Deputy Chairman Dr. Duane Sands and Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis admonished the government against implementing an NHI tax. They said it would cripple the middle class and drive more Bahamians into poverty. But Christie said there should be no debate over whether people should live or die.
"The state must always recognize that there are people in our country who cannot purchase their own environment," Christie said. "They cannot afford to buy their own health insurance. So for politicians to know that their health insurance is contributed to by the state, and for rich doctors to know they can buy it, but everyday people die because they can't afford it, and we have the nicety of public debates over what we should do and what price we accord to human life?"
Reflecting on his own ability to provide insurance for his disabled son, Christie noted "there are people in our country who, every morning they wake up and they do not know what to do with their child or children who are affected similarly".
"And the country has not yet reached the point where it can accord to them the privilege and benefit that I can pay for my child," he said.
An NHI report completed by Costa Rican consultants Sanigest Internacional revealed that the implementation of NHI would cost taxpayers between $362 million for a basic benefits package and $633 million for an expanded benefits package annually. The report proposes three revenue scenarios to pay for the scheme.
Under the low scenario, payroll contributions would not be introduced beyond the one percent approved for the National Prescription Drug Plan. This scenario calls for limited additional taxes assessed on auto and other insurance policies and only partial transfer of existing government health spending.
Under the medium scenario, contributions of three percent would be introduced, with two percent split between employers and employees, with a National Insurance Board (NIB) wage ceiling increase to $800. The current NIB wage ceiling is $620 per week.
Under the high scenario, contributions of five percent would be introduced, with a wage ceiling increase to $1,200. The medium and high scenario also call for additional taxes on alcohol and tobacco, auto insurance and other insurance, and nearly all-existing government funding of healthcare would be channeled to NHI.
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