The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday heralded the “historic” launch of the enrolment phase of National Health Insurance, expressing his delight in serving as the nation’s leader while “ushering in” one of the “most significant interventions in the history of this country.”

With yesterday’s launch, Bahamians will now be able to choose their primary care physician from a list of over 60 doctors, which include family medicine practitioners, general practitioners, internists, obstetricians, gynaecologists and paediatricians.

The government ultimately plans to have between 140 and 150 primary care providers (PCPs) incorporated into NHI, with plans to augment the private sector offering with the services of primary care providers in the public sector, the Department of Public Health and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).

Mr Christie, during a press conference at the Enoch Beckford Auditorium yesterday morning, just moments after having been walked through the enrolment process by senior NHI officials, called the launch a “major step forward” in his government’s attempts to provide universal healthcare for Bahamians, particularly when taking into account “the major catastrophic illnesses affecting our people.”

Meanwhile, NHI Secretariat Permanent Secretary Peter Deveaux-Isaacs announced that the Christie administration is engaged in “contractual discussions” with Aetna Benefits Group to manage NHI’s public insurer, with plans to finalise the process by next week.

However, he said the discussions will not impede the scheme’s capacity to provide healthcare services to citizens.

“No, not at all,” Mr Deveaux-Isaacs said on the matter. “And they will be able to ramp up, if they do in fact get the contract, they will be able to ramp up in six weeks to provide services.”

Nonetheless, with NHI being one of his administration’s signature programmes, Mr Christie lauded his administration’s accomplishment of the country’s first enrolment for universal health coverage, calling it a “historic achievement for our country and more importantly for our Bahamian people.”

“I’m so happy today because Bahamians have been reaching out to me to tell me what this means to them personally,” he said. “This is just the beginning. My government is committed to ensuring that every Bahamian on every island has the healthcare they need, and my government will carry this change forward, and we cannot afford to stop our progress now.

“This is an historic day, and I told some of the young people who are now engaged in registration and enrolment that one day when they themselves are adults and grandparents, people like myself will no longer be here. They will have a true appreciation of having been a part of establishing one of the most significant interventions in the history of this country. One that will have great meaning for the people of our country on the most important aspect facing their lives and the lives of their children and their children’s children, and that is healthcare.”

He added: “I cannot in any way be more eloquent in saying this is a major step forward…I feel honoured and privileged to have been the prime minister at this point in our history to usher in this day and this period.”

To enrol, people will need their NIB smart card and proof that they have resided in the Bahamas for the last six months. Only Bahamian citizens and legal residents can be enrolled. In addition to in-person enrolment opportunities, online enrolment is also available at www.nhibahamas.gov.bs.

For persons with private insurance, they must provide their insurance group policy and member ID number.

Once enrolment forms are processed, those enrolled can expect to receive either their confirmation of their enrolment and primary care provider selection within 10 business days or be contacted for additional documentation. Confirmation notices will also provide the date when each person can start to access primary care services under NHI, officials said.

In the event an individual’s preferred doctor is not on the list of registered providers at the time of enrolment, those enrolled can either wait until the name of the physician appears on the list, or ask that physician if he/she has plans to register with NHI.

The list of registered providers will be updated daily as more doctors sign on with NHI, according to officials. Persons can change their doctor selection once per year. “The launch of enrolment for NHI Bahamas is an exciting development for our country,” Mr Deveaux-Isaacs said. “We’ve had a positive response from the physician community and many have now signed up as primary care providers under NHI.

“I encourage persons to enrol early so they can have first pick of their preferred doctor who they will soon receive primary care services from.”

NHI will exist in several phases. The primary healthcare phase will cover mostly basic services, diagnostic imaging and some medications prescribed by doctors. Top government officials concede that despite the benefits of primary healthcare, a challenge they will encounter will be managing the expectations of people who may not realise this phase does not cover all medical services.

The Christie administration has set aside money for selective catastrophic coverage, although the details about what will be prioritised in this phase have not been disclosed.

The final phase - full benefits coverage - will come on stream at a later date. Officials have said a new tax will likely be required to pay for the final phase.

The government has already missed several target dates for NHI. The primary care phase was initially expected to be launched last April. That date was pushed to January of this year.

When the January date was missed, Mr Christie said NHI services would be launched in the first week of this month. That also did not happen.