The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday said he fears that the implementation of National Health Insurance will spark mass layoffs in the health insurance industry, an area he predicted will see grave affects on profit margins from the proposed plan.

The Progressive Liberal Party MP said while he believes the Christie administration is on the right track by closing in on plans to implement universal health care, the government is “no doubt in for a rough ride” over the controversial initiative.

He told The Tribune that the government’s timing of NHI implementation, just a year after value added tax (VAT) was brought into force, left the administration at the mercy of critics who argue that another tax to pay for NHI would deplete the poor and middle class. The government has set a self-imposed deadline of January 2016 for NHI.

FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis also believes implementing a new tax or taxes to fund NHI will break the backs of the poor and middle class. The Killarney MP has maintained that the Christie administration is going about NHI plans the wrong way adding that a payroll tax to fund the initiative should not be considered.

Mr Miller said: “I think it is a good thing because it is high time Bahamians receive universal health care. This country has been without a national health plan for the last 50 years.

“Because of VAT I fear that it might make it difficult for people to afford it.

“It is just a pity that from 2002 to 2007 the (first) Christie administration was not able to do it and at that time it was very controversial.

“Now we are three years into this new term in office and we are trying again. If you ask me this should have been a priority. But I guess the funding and the financial situation we met in 2012 was a major set back.

“If and when this comes into force they (the insurance companies) are going to have to let a lot of people go because they will be looking at their profit margins which will see serious implications. I predict that they will try to lay off as many people as they can.”

When asked if he was confident that the Christie administration could roll out NHI in January 2016 Mr Miller said he was hopeful that it could happen.

“They tried to do this under the 2002 Christie government and it didn’t happen. Well I will tell you this, it looks bad to keep delaying and delaying and delaying. So I am hopeful that the government will get it done. It just has to be done.”

He called on the government to upgrade the existing infrastructure at the nation’s public health facilities.

Costa Rican accounting firm Sanigest Internacional provided a report to the government last October on the feasibility of NHI and presented options for financing universal health care.

According to the report, which The Tribune has obtained a copy of, the consultants have suggested a payroll tax ranging from one per cent to five per cent to finance NHI.

The report explores various other revenue-raising options, including levying a “sin tax” on alcohol and tobacco that would, the report estimates, yield some $64.93 million in NHI revenues in 2016, an estimate the report concedes is at the high end. This yield, Sanigest forecasts, will increase to $68 million in 2017 and $71.276 million in 2018, with the increases driven by economic growth.

Another option identified is a tax on auto insurance premiums.

According to the report, NHI could cost $633 million if implemented as a comprehensive package.