By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Private sector insurers yesterday urged the government to set out “a long-term framework” for a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme that has had little impact on their business to-date.

Sandy Morley, the Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) deputy chairman, told Tribune Business: “As it stands now, as it’s structured now, there has been little to no impact on private insurers.”

As to the future effects, he added: “I’m not sure. I think until we are clear on the direction that NHI is going we are not able to determine that. The last directive they outlined was the employer mandate.

“Again, there could be some impact there but we are not sure whether that’s the same model that they are going to be coming with. So we are not in a position as an industry to determine the impact that would be felt in the near term.”

The initial plan, as outlined by the NHI Authority’s website, called for “the establishment of an employer mandate that will require businesses and employees to share the cost of the standard health benefit (SHB) premium – with some exemptions outlined in a policy paper dedicated to it.

“It is estimated that employees will pay two percent of their salary to a maximum of $42 per month, with the employer paying the remainder of the premium. The employer mandate will be phased in, starting in January 2021, for businesses with over 100 employees, then eventually will be expanded to include all employers over the coming years. Employers will be responsible for providing the SHB to full-time and part-time employees working over 15 hours per week.”

The website added: “Under the new model, the NHI Authority will act as the public payer, focused on helping those who do not fall under the employer mandate, including children, retirees, non-working spouses and unemployed persons.

“Moving away from a single-payer model to a shared responsibility with a single pricing approach will make NHI Bahamas more affordable and sustainable, and aligns with the Government of The Bahamas’ commitment to fiscal responsibility.”

Mr Morley yesterday called on the NHI Authority to “present a long-term framework for NHI,” something it has not done to-date. He added: “I think in the last press release they said they are putting a system in to track medical records, so they are doing some things I think to support NHI as it stands now.

“They have about 70,000 persons registered. Those would not be our clients that are currently registered, so the impact now is negligible to none. Of course, until we are clear on the framework and the way forward, I am not sure we can determine what the impact is going to be.”

The NHI Authority earlier this month unveiled its electronic health record (EHR) system. This is designed to move the scheme to paperless management of client treatments and records, along with service provider information, and also to ensure patient records can be seamlessly transferred between different doctors.

Mr Morley said the “next step” for the NHI Authority is to “clearly outline for the nation at large” what its next steps are, and the respective timelines that are to be met.

“The employer mandate was laid out about a year-and-a-half ago, and should come into effect in 2021. Based on what I understand, because of Hurricane Dorian funding was not provided, and so it was delayed. Until we are able to have that resolved we just don’t know,” he added.