The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

IF the government does not follow through with its promise to implement National Health Insurance, the Progressive Liberal Party could find itself defeated at the 2017 general election polls, conceded Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday.

Mr Miller said in the face of continued criticism, the government should still move forward with launching NHI in January 2016 and make adjustments where and if they are needed should the initiative face challenges.

He said this was best if the government did not want to be seen as an administration that did not live up to its promises.

He again lashed out at the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) over its claims that Prime Minister Perry Christie was refusing to listen to or follow its recommendations.

He told The Tribune that the prime minister has several times met with stakeholders, sometimes late into the night, over NHI and had been more than accommodating to listening to the BIA’s concerns.

This, he said, made him fearful that Mr Christie might “bend to the pressure” and back away from rolling out the healthcare scheme as planned.

“The prime minister has to do it, when he said he would do it and do it properly,” Mr Miller said. “If he doesn’t, it could cost us an election because he promised to do it.

“(But) I am very scared that this thing will not be done in January. You know the prime minister has taken this over and all it is now is meeting after meeting.

“I fear that those fellas are going to get him to back off with the threat of job losses. He must go through with it and then we can fine tune this as we go on.”

Mr Miller went on to accuse the BIA of looking out for its own interests and trying to bully the government into stepping away from NHI because it does not suit their purposes.

“We were elected to look out for the people. Mr Christie knows that we have to stop all these cookouts in aid of medical expenses. He knows people can’t keep dying because they cannot afford medical attention.

“But at the same time don’t try to tell us what we should do.

“The BIA and all the rest of them are saying the prime minister is not listening and they are not getting anywhere but he has been meeting with them late into the night many times. These stakeholders shouldn’t try to impose what they want on the government then get upset when their recommendations are not taken.

“But I tell you one thing, if NHI don’t go through, it will be a sad day. It could cost us big time.”

Last week, Mr Miller lashed out at BIA Chairman Emmanuel Komolafe, telling The Tribune he needs to “head back to his country and see what he could implement there.”

“He is not one of us, so I don’t appreciate him (Mr Komolafe) trying to dictate to us what we should do. He needs to haul his * back to his country and make a contribution there,” Mr Miller said last week.

The BIA recently released a statement that said the proposed NHI model constitutes “a hostile takeover” of the private health insurance sector by government.

The association predicted that NHI would destabilise the health insurance sector, which they expect to have a snowballing effect on the entire insurance industry.

It further cautioned the government to exercise prudence in its management of the country’s affairs and to implement universal health coverage in the Bahamas in a responsible rather than reckless manner.

The statement came after Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said while the government is concerned about possible job losses due to the implementation of NHI, the scheme is designed to absorb any possible fallout in the private insurance sector.

He was responding to assertions by a high-level stakeholder in the health insurance industry who told The Tribune last week that as many as 1,000 people will lose their jobs if the government proceeds with NHI without incorporating the BIA’s recommendations.

The BIA has also accused the government of having no interest in engaging in any consultation – other than paying lip service to the idea – as it relates to NHI implementation.