The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner yesterday criticised the Christie administration for not as yet producing the legislation for National Health Insurance in Parliament, saying it speaks “volumes about the level of incompetence that we’re faced with with this government”.

NHI’s primary care phase is expected to come on stream in April. However, until the legislation is passed in Parliament, officials cannot begin to enroll people in the system.

Mrs Butler-Turner said it is “incredulous” that the government has not yet tabled the legislation in the House of Assembly, despite it being less than a month before the scheduled introduction of the proposed scheme.

Suggesting that the government is “putting the cart before the donkey”, she said the government’s failure to produce the NHI bill “shows a lack of being able to execute platforms that are important to their governance”.

The government recently released the draft NHI legislation, however consultation with medical stakeholders on the bill is still continuing. The document did not say how much NHI would cost or how it would be funded.

The legislation is needed to provide the legal framework for NHI.

“It shows a lack of competence, a lack of forethought, it shows a lack of being able to execute platforms that are important to their governance,” Mrs Butler-Turner said on the matter.

“And so the fact that we don’t even have the legislation yet speaks volumes about the level of incompetence that we’re faced with with this government, which I continuously reiterate, is incompetent.

“There is nothing but incompetence that can describe the fact that we don’t have that legislation. So now this whole thing about NHI being rolled out and we don’t have the framework in which it’s going to operate is incredulous.”

She added: “So really the government at this point, even with what they call their registration process, is operating without the correct legal footing for anything. And at this stage it’s like putting the cart before the donkey, and essentially this government is a government of confusion, incompetence and lack of forethought. That’s why we have no legislative framework.”

Last month, Dr Gomez said it is “likely” that the government will postpone the introduction of the primary healthcare phase; however, he did not say how long the delay would last, not did he suggest a new date for the introduction of the scheme.

Prime Minister Perry Christie later said his administration was focused on “getting it right” with NHI. However, government officials have insisted for months that the government would stick to its timeline for NHI, notwithstanding resistance from stakeholders.

“It’s absolutely no surprise for me,” Mrs Butler-Turner told The Tribune. “At the end of the day I have looked at everything that the prime minister and this administration has put forward in terms of major initiatives, and every single one of them have been delayed. I attribute it to poor planning, poor execution, and a lot of talk as opposed to action.”