The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE National Insurance Board will have to brace for a massive drawdown on its financial resources of at least an additional $16 million per month.

According to NIB Minister Brensil Rolle yesterday, this is not only the consequence of the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian but added strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused more people to rely on the assistance of the board.

The Garden Hills MP made the announcement yesterday at Parliament, while revealing NIB plans to pay out a total of 9,500 unemployment claims this week at a cost of $4.5m.

“NIB’s executive team is ever mindful of the toll this COVID-19 health and economic crisis will have on NIB’s financials,” Mr Rolle said. “Benefit payments were already outstripping contribution income since 2016. After just feeling the effects of Dorian, the board now has to brace for a major drawdown on its resources to the tune of at least an additional $16m per month above expected budgeted expenditures.

“NIB has prepared for increased sickness benefit payouts as a result of quarantines and isolation, and has created a process with the COVID-19 hotline and the Ministry of Health to substitute for the doctors’ forms. NIB’s (executives are) constantly monitoring the liquidity of the fund to ensure that NIB can meet its obligations in the least disruptive manner for the markets.”

The minister explained yesterday how unemployment benefits have seen a massive increase.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 fallout, NIB has received 16,000 to 17,000 unemployment benefits (UEB). Ordinarily, NIB processes 6,000 to 7,000 yearly.

He assured the public that even if an employer has not been up to date with employees’ NIB contributions, they can still be eligible for the unemployment benefit.

He said: “NIB has organised 60 persons to register these claims and to organise the documents which were received from both the employers and the employees. It should be noted that NIB currently processes between 6,000-7,000 UEB applications in a year.

“NIB has had to innovate, so it concluded special arrangements with companies to pay the unemployment benefit on NIB’s behalf to their eligible laid off workers in two week segments. “For many of these companies they will receive a contributions payment credit based on the amount that they would have paid to eligible staff. NIB’s core goal is to pay people quicker. NIB encourages other organisations to also make similar payment arrangements.

“Through other special arrangements, NIB will be paying almost 9,500 persons their UEB claims this week at an estimated cost of $4.5m for two weeks of UEB in the coming days once the agreements have been concluded and the claims have been audited. We are advised that the audit process is near completion, so payments should be dispersed early this week.”

Mr Rolle said NIB has 20 large companies in the process of using this innovative method which will ensure that persons get paid as soon as possible. NIB is anticipating that 14,000-15,000 claimants can be handled through these arrangements.

He said these special arrangements allow NIB’s staff to focus on those unemployment claims from companies which are not current with their contributions.