Petition being prepared to challenge NHI in current form
Speaking on the talk show, Speak out BVI with host Doug Wheatley on ZBVI 780 AM on Tuesday September 1, 2015, political activist Natalio D. Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru said a petition is being prepared to challenge NHI in its current form, which he said is inferior and bound to fail.
Mr Wheatley made it clear, however, that universal health coverage is something that every society should aspire to so that the most vulnerable in society could have access to health care but that is must be done in such a way that the society itself would be able to sustain it and not be ‘damaged’ by it.
He also said he found that the approach government is taking regarding NHI is the wrong approach.
According to Mr Wheatley, government had started with consultations and were met with some resistance and concerns but for some reason the consultations stopped and government shifted into a mode of implementation instead.
“We live in a democratic society and it is very troubling for me that the Government, a small minority of people in a territory, can decide that they are going to force to have something like the NHI especially when the Insurance Association of the BVI has informed that 60% of the population is already insured and quite a number of those people are satisfied with the insurance they have and most likely will lose it because it is being provided through the employer and when you mandate the employer to pay for NHI they can’t afford to pay twice so they would be forced to drop the private insurance in favour of NHI that many people recognise to be inferior in many ways.”
Petition
One of Mr Wheatley’s suggestions is that people sign a petition to the government challenging NHI in its current form.
“I am in the process of preparing a petition. It should be prepared this week,” Mr Wheatley said, noting that the petition will be asking the government to go back to the drawing board.
The petition, he said, will ask the government to negotiate with the local insurance companies to see if they can come up with a package to ensure that the 40% of uninsured are insured.
“So it’s not that we don’t want people to be covered. We don’t want to turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters who are not covered. We want to help them but we don’t want to help them in a way that would damage the 60% who already have insurance that they are satisfied with.
“And we don’t want to become a territory that takes authoritarian type, autocratic type actions and force things on people that they don’t want. That is not supposed to be the case in a democratic society.”
The former At Large candidate with the People’s Empowerment Party (PEP) at the June 8, 2015 elections added that some of the politicians pushing NHI are doing well and that they talk about it all the time but there are some people living from pay check to pay check and can’t afford the deductions.
IABVI blasts Government for ignoring its concerns
Meanwhile, the Insurance Association of the BVI has criticised government for ignoring concerns about NHI and has also challenged it to release its own figures showing how NHI would be viable.
And in response to certain statements in the media regarding the IABVI’s position on NHI, the IABVI issued a press release today, September 3, 2015 in which it made it clear that it believes all residents of the VI should have access to affordable healthcare, and have always stated that private and government sponsored plans should and must co-exist.
The IABVI has been criticised for allegedly expressing their “grouses” at the eleventh hour, however, it said this is because individual insurance firms had been putting their concerns to those responsible for NHI privately.
It said that all through the “consultation” process the private insurance companies have offered help, support, and advice but none of the offers of help were taken up and none of the advice offered by the insurance firms was heeded.
“Once the announcement to proceed with NHI was made, the IABVI tried to meet with the Minister concerned. The meeting did not take place, so given the impending launch of NHI, the IABVI decided to make the Public Statement on 25 August. Until this point it was the desire of the individual members of the IABVI to continue to work with the NHI team privately.”
The IABVI further said the Minister of Health and Social Development is correct to say that private insurance firms are supportive of the principle of NHI, (private companies cannot insure the uninsurable) but not supportive of how this programme is to be run “given our collective experience. We do not believe the plan is currently viable unless money is taken from other sources such as Government funding or the Social Security Fund or increased NHI contributions from the public in year 2 onwards in order to prop up the plan."
According to the IABVI, the current industry average cost of a claim is $150 per person per month in the VI and that under NHI, the IABVI would expect the cost of an average claim to be far higher as it incorporates a far broader health spectrum, (such as the elderly) than private insurance currently covers.
“We expect the average claim to increase to $200 or even $250 given the health requirements of the population The IABVI presumes that government has its own figures, similar to the ones we have produced, which show how they believe the numbers will add up. We would suggest they release those in order to reassure the public.”
Registration for NHI began on September 1, 2015. The scheme is expected to fully come on stream in January 2016.
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48 Responses to “Petition being prepared to challenge NHI in current form”
No more talk sign up and tell the NDP how you really feel about NHI
https://www.change.org/p/dr-hon-d-orlando-smith-premier-of-the-virgin-islands-stop-the-nhi-and-go-back-to-the-drawing-board
NHI will be good for your pockets - until you get sick!
I use my private insurance overseas and had no problem. I got a child in the US and got a bill $0.00. I have gone to hospitals in the US and paid nothing.
With NHI you will not be able to go overseas if the Board feels that you shouldn't meaning you do not have a choice to choose where you want to go. So you keep singing that tune I hope and pray it does not turn into crying when your really need medical attention and you have to dig deep into your pocket to pay for it. Unless of course you have a crystal ball that tells you that as a BV Islander you will not get ill or an expat that goes home for vacation and every thing goes well until you return to the BVI.
Let's say god forbid one needs a major surgery or procedures and the bill is $200,000 overseas.
With NHI you will pay $40,000 to $80,000 out of pocket depending on provider, with BUPA you would have paid either $250 or $500.
People, that is what you need supplemental insurance for. If you have a catastrophic medical need your NHI copay will not only still be out of your reach but be enough to send you to financial ruin or to be begging for assistance. This is the same thing the scheme is touted to prevent.
To all of those who think they can just not have supplemental insurance please think again!
Don't get me wrong I hate the fact that I have to fork out money but we needed to voice these concerns when government first announce it.
Mr. Wanna Noel Lloyd Please go sit down. GO take ur family and y'all march. From on here talking Bull. You claim to be this smart person but obviously the people don't believe that and in elections they showed you.
To the private doctors I can foresee you all not getting paid on time from government. I would suggest every citizen go to the private doctors everytime, the private hospital. Think about it.
It's time we seek to help our people and ourselves.
Let's look beyond the current citation and help every one.
When a scheme like this is running workers pay in over their working life, and continue to be covered when they retire, with no more contributions. That is, seniors are covered by the working populations contributions. But what is the situation at the start up of the scheme? Will retirees be covered without any contributions? Or do they have to pay? If so, how much and to whom? By what means? None of these things have been explained.
This is a done deal and 5000 signatures can't stop it
If only I could get my exam from him back in a week....