The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) pointed out several concerns with the Christie administration's draft National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. Primarily, those concerns surrounded the responsibilities for the minister to be appointed for National Health Insurance and part two of the draft legislation. The majority of the government's responses were "a policy decision" or "suggestion noted".
Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez tabled the NHI Bill 2016 last week in Parliament. However, many stakeholders said they were "blindsided" by the tabling of the bill. One stakeholder in particular referred to it as a "cloak and dagger" move. The day after the bill was tabled, Guardian Business obtained a document, which revealed what the government's responses were to recommendations made by members of the stakeholder advisory council. The council received the feedback a day before the bill was tabled.
The chamber referred to section 4 (4) of the draft bill which stated, "The provisions of the first schedule shall have effect as to the constitution and procedure of the board and otherwise in relation thereto."
The chamber said, "The board lacks transparency and does not provide for proper governance. The board must be revisited. Guidance should be taken from the NIB board or URCA. Ministerial selection is too heavy. There should be criteria/qualifications that each board member must meet."
The government's response was that it was "a policy decision".
The chamber also said that the minister should not have the power to amend the first schedule without the consent of Parliament. The government said, once again, that it was a "policy decision".
It appears that the recommendations made for the draft bill that received the response a "policy decision" were not changed in the 2016 bill that was tabled.
The bill stated in Section 12 (2) that, "The statement of accounts shall be audited annually by an independent auditor appointed by the authority with the approval of the minister."
The chamber was concerned that the independent auditor should not be appointed by the minister and recommended that the words "with the approval of the minister" be deleted.
The government made suitable changes to this section. The NHI Bill 2016 states in Section 12 (2) that, "The statement of account shall be audited annually by an independent auditor appointed by the authority and licensed with The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants."
The chamber said the first schedule for the bill should include the criteria for persons to sit as members of the board, saying "The board should have a similar make-up [to] the NIB Board."
The government said it was a policy decision.
BCCEC added that the appointment process of members to the board was minister-heavy. That recommendation also was said to be a policy decision.

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