The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE revised National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill tabled in Parliament on Wednesday appears to reduce some of the powers of the Minister proposed under the draft Bill, most notably cutting the number of people to be appointed to the Authority’s Board.

The NHI Bill tabled by Dr Perry Gomez states that the Board shall consist of nine members as opposed to 12 previously proposed and only two members shall be appointed by the Minister as opposed to seven members proposed in the draft NHI Bill. This revision seems to address at least one of several concerns the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) had expressed over the draft Bill.

Additionally, the BIA will now have a seat on the Board, as the revised Bill states that one member shall be proposed by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas; the Bahamas Insurance Association and from among the Medical Association of the Bahamas respectively.

“The Board shall consist of nine members - (a) two of whom shall be appointed by the Minister n his discretion of whom

(i) one shall be regarded as having demonstrated experience in the health sector in areas such as health service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, access to essential medicines, health financing, health leadership or governance;

(ii) one shall be regarded as having demonstrated experience in the commercial sector in areas such as financial expertise, business strategy, business administration or executive-level management,”

The Bill states, adding that “not less than 40 per cent of the members of the Board shall be female and not less than 40 per cent shall be male”.

The Bill also states that the Board shall appoint a Managing Director who shall be the chief executive of the Authority. According to the revised NHI Bill, the Managing Director of the National Health Insurance Authority, the Chief Medical Officer, the Director of the National Insurance Board, the Superintendent of the Insurance Commission of the Bahamas and the Director of Social Services shall be ex-officio members with no voting rights.

While the BIA had expressed concern that the draft Bill had empowered the Minister to “give to the [NHI] Authority such directions of a general or specific character regarding the discharge of the functions of the Authority”, the Bill tabled on Wednesday was revised to state that, “Where circumstances require immediate action, the Minister may, in the interest of the public, give to the Authority such directions as it appears to the Minister appropriate, whether of a general or specific character and the Authority shall give effect to any such direction.”

The revised NHI Bill allows persons to be eligible to receive benefits under the Plan for the plan if they are a citizen of the Bahamas and ordinarily resident in the Bahamas or lawfully residing in the Bahamas in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Act (Ch. 191) and have resided in the Bahamas for a period of ‘not less than six months’ immediately preceding enrollment as opposed to the three months in the draft Bill.

The revised Bill tabled in Parliament also states that “Any person that is desirous of participating in the Plan as an Administrator must

(a) be registered with the Insurance Commission as a long-term insurance business carrying on sickness or health insurance in accordance with the Insurance Act (Ch. 347);

(b) be certified by the Insurance Commission as an Administrator and enter into an agreement with the Authority in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”