The minister under which the National Health Insurance (NHI) directly falls and is the next big beat for him after the completion of the new Peebles Hospital, Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton, is leaving the handling of the petition against the NHI up to the Premier and Minister of Finance Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith. Photo: VINO

The NHI team with Chairman and CEO of JIPA Network Mr Kester Nedd (front, left). Also in photo are Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton, Director of Social Security Board Ms Antonette Skelton and deputy Director Mr Roy N. Barry at the contract signing ceremony between Social Security Board/National Health Insurance and JIPA Network in the conference room of the Social Security Board on October, 1, 2015. Photo: VINO

This the Minister for Health and Social Development, Hon Skelton, told reporters as he faced questions from the media at the contracting signing with JIPA Network and the Social Security Board of the Virgin Islands (British) on October 1, 2015.

Minister Skelton admitted having knowledge of the petition being circulated and asserted that it may reach the desk of Premier Smith. When asked about his thoughts as to how the Premier intends to respond he said, “I cannot speak for the Premier.”

"I don't think that there is anything important in this country over the last 25, 30 years that did not happen without this level of public input. The unknown is always questionable. We are trying to build a healthcare system for our country, so sometimes it takes making difficult decisions and this is one of them," he said.

Fear of victimisation

The 'Halt the NHI and go back to the drawing board' petition is said to have garnered close to a 1000 signatures so far and, according to talk show host Mr Edmund G. Maduro, many persons working in the government system want to sign it but are afraid of being victimised if they do.

Further, Mr Maduro considers imposing the NHI in its current format as unconstitutional as it compels every person in the VI to be registered whether or not they have pre-existing health insurance coverage with private insurance companies.

While it was reported in some sections of the media that Premier Smith said no one has brought the petition to him just yet, Radio talk show host Doug Wheatley believes that Premier Smith must listen to all views when it comes to the National Health Insurance (NHI).

He said the Premier will understand that he has a contract between the governed and those persons who have been elected as representatives and that he has to endeavour to satisfy all and sundry. “He can't just go with the flow of the majority view because they say this is what we want.”

And while it has been taking some time for Government Ministers to come out and speak about the much touted concerns about NHI, Representative for the Second District Honourable Melvin 'Mitch' Turnbull said he will soon disclose the results of a comparative study he has done on the National Health Insurance (NHI) to compare and contrast with the insurance packages offered by private insurance agencies.

Hon Turnbull, speaking at a community meeting in Cane Garden Bay on Thursday September 24, 2015, said that people are unclear of the benefits under NHI due to lack of correct information in the public domain.

Some of the main arguments against the NHI is that persons will be forced to give up their constitutional freedom of choice and right to life as argued by talk show host Edmund G. Maduro; that the NHI will mean loss of jobs in the insurance industry as put forward by the Insurance Association of the BVI (IABVI); and that the NHI should be taken back to the drawing board to address concerns of persons who would prefer to keep their private insurance as argued by Natalio D. Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru.

Registration for NHI began on September 1, 2015 and full implementation is to commence on January 1, 2016.