The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Democratic National Alliance's (DNA) ex-leader yesterday blasted the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) payroll levy, saying: "No more taxes, period".

Branville McCartney, pictured, in an interview with Tribune Business, slammed: "The Government must do their job, stimulate this economy, introduce new industries and ensure that at the end of the day people are back to work.

"I keep saying that we cannot tax a country out of recession. The increase in VAT to 12 percent has had a devastating effect on businesses today. The Government should really be doing what they ought to do in terms of opening this country up to new business, making doing business easier and getting rid of bureaucracy. We need to eliminate as much as possible corruption. This method of taxes and more taxes is going to hurt the people."

The contributory scheme, announced by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) on Tuesday, proposed that the salaries of every employed Bahamian will be subject to a deduction of about two percent each month as a means to pay for universal healthcare coverage (UHC) for all, including children, the elderly and the unemployed.

It proposes that people already subscribing to private insurers will not make any extra contributions, but instead two percent of their payments to these insurers would go into the universal healthcare pool.

Mr McCartney told Tribune Business: "We need to see this economy bounce back before any more taxes. We can't take it. Taxing the people is a lazy way of trying to raise money. Our location in this world alone is an industry, and we have failed to capitalise on it. We can't continue to do things like we have done in the past, it just won't work."

According to the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), NHI funding will come from five primary sources, namely government contributions from the national budget; an earmarked allocation of VAT collected on private health insurance premiums, distributions from the risk equalisation fund; direct contributions from secondary and exempt employers; and a sugary drinks tax earmarked for the NHI wellness programme.