The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Government has yet to decide how its National Health Insurance (NHI) plan will be financed, the Minister of Health yesterday admitting that while the scheme’s 2016 implementation was ambitious, “this is the right thing to do”.

  During his contribution to the 2014-2015 mid-year Budget debate, Dr Perry Gomez said the Blue Ribbon Commission he had chaired under the first Christie administration had proposed a 5.4 per cent pay oll tax to cover NHI’s then-projected $235 million annual cost.

“We had proposed a 5.4 per cent tax on salary, not income,” he said. “It’s up to the team that’s in place to look at what we are going to propose this time. That has not been determined yet. Regardless of how much you make, we are all paying the same amount of our salary; that’s the equity part of it.”

National Health Insurance was developed as a policy priority under the first Christie administration. A 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission was appointed to review the feasibility of the scheme, and the National Health Insurance Act 2006 was passed by Parliament.

The original financing proposal split the costs 50/50 between the employer and employee. But the costs of the NHI plan are now estimated at between $500-$600 million if the Government goes with a full one-time implementation.

    Mr Gomez said that on February 16, the Ministry of Health  signed off on an agreement with the Costa Rican consulting firm, Sanigest Internacional, for the provision of technical assistance for NHI’s implementation.

    “The journey to this implementation has started in earnest. NHI launch must be realised in January of 2016,” Dr Gomez said.

“Yes, it is an ambitious mission, but the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance and our partners in the private sector will accomplish this honourable goal,” said Dr Gomez.

“The framework  for this implementation plan, with targets and timelines, is now being completed. The local implementation team led by the deputy chief medical officer, along with local experts in several different fields, has been established.”