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USVI turns to Bermuda for individual health insurance packages

Lieutenant Governor of the US Virgin Islands Mr Osbert E. Potter (right) and Governor Kenneth E. Mapp. Photo: VIC
VI CONSORTIUM

FREDERIKSTED, St Croix, USVI— Lieutenant Governor of the US Virgin Islands Mr Osbert E. Potter, during a press conference on St Croix, US Virgin Islands on Monday October 3, 2016, said he would travel to Bermuda next week to meet with health insurance companies based on the island; a British territory, in hopes of convincing them to offer packages to residents in the US Virgin Islands.

Mr Potter said that since taking office, he has been working tirelessly to get individual healthcare coverage in the territory. “Presently, if you are not working for the government, or not part of a group health insurance policy, you are out in the cold,” said the lieutenant governor. “We know how difficult and expensive it is for individual health insurance.”

Mr Potter said he has approached the US health insurance firms, but those firms have been pulling out of the Affordable Health Care Act, which complicates any effort to offer similar packages in the territory.

But Bermuda, he said, has strong health insurance firms, and revealed that preliminary discussions have indicated their willingness to offer packages.

Traveling with Mr Potter will be Gwendolyn Brady, Director of Banking and Insurance, “to see if we could put a dent in the almost 25,000 to 30,000 Virgin Islanders who do not have it but desperately need it,” Mr Potter said.

Mr Potter also announced that those with delinquent property taxes should work with the Property Tax Division to develop a payment plan as the agency would resume property auctions in 2017.

4 Responses to “USVI turns to Bermuda for individual health insurance packages”

  • rock city (04/10/2016, 13:13) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    how come he did not come to the BVI to check his resident x CEO who going head BVI Medical tourism....
    • @ rock city (04/10/2016, 21:47) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
      they do not want her there only we in the BVI take all the left overs
  • ... (04/10/2016, 13:29) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    NHI bad
  • Serious mess (04/10/2016, 16:35) Like (10) Dislike (0) Reply
    Health insurance is not available in the USVIs for individuals less than age 65 (those folks have access to Medicare) period. No one is writing or selling individuals to anybody in the USVIs. That is one of the main reasons Schneider Regional hospital is owned $ 40 million. Without health insurance, people wait until a condition becomes an emergency, and by federal law, emergency rooms are obligated to treat them. What's worse is that without health insurance, your out of pocket costs to see a doctor are way higher than what an insurance company would pay.


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