NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Health and Wellness, Michael Darville, laid the new National Health Insurance Bill 2022, in the House of Assembly Wednesday morning, which he said will modernize healthcare in The Bahamas.
If enacted, the bill would repeal and replace the existing 2016 legislation.
The Health and Wellness minister said that it was a new chapter in the country’s journey for healthcare after the foundation of this legislation was made by the previous Progressive Liberal Party administration back in 2016 when the National Health Insurance Act of 2016 was first introduced and then launched in the following year.
“Through the 2016 act, we established a National Health Insurance Bahamas program and the National Health Insurance Authority, which is the agency responsible for the delivery of accessible and affordable health care services to all Bahamians,” he said.
Darville described NHI as a remarkable national success story; adding that thousands of Bahamians are now enrolled in the program which also provides coverage for the most underserved in the wider community, including family islands.
“Since 2017, we have enrolled over 135 thousand Bahamians in the NHI program who are now covered for some essential primary health care services and have been paired with their selected family doctor throughout our archipelago.”
“[…]Today, nearly 20 thousand of those enrolled with NHI live across 17 family islands, and we are still expanding our services throughout the Bahamas.”
Modernizing the current healthcare issue is a priority according to Darville who said that over the past few years collaborations with various entities, such as the Public Health Authority, the Pan-American Health Organization, the Department of Environmental Health, and others in dealing with Hurricane Dorian, the COVID-19 pandemic and other outbreaks has helped them to ‘streamline the delivery of healthcare services.
He adds that the legislation will provide a modern approach to healthcare to improve clinical outcomes and access to essential primary healthcare.
“[…] We have witnessed firsthand the importance of maintaining accessible primary health care and the impact of primary health care coverage on the overall health and well-being of our people.
“We have also seen the staggering financial impacts of acute care and the tremendous burden at our hospital brought on by patients suffering from chronic noncommunicable diseases.
“The reality is that in many cases, the best prescription to address our complex health challenges is an affordable, robust primary health care that can mitigate many of our health challenges brought on by the impact of poorly managed non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancers undiagnosed in the early stages of clinical presentation.”
Darville said the move will merge public and private practices under a common financing framework that rewards, ‘performance, quality and service excellence.’
“This new NHI bill will certainly lay the legal framework for the roll-out of a suite of services known as the Standard Health Benefits package that all NHP beneficiaries will receive what is available now and much more.
“Some of these services include primary health care services, health, education and promotion, early detection and preventative care, diagnostic imaging, pediatric and maternity care, and, of course, screening programs for cancers and other specific conditions, particularly in the early stages.”
Catastrophic Healthcare coverage will also be introduced according to Darville who said that its a priority for the government as a critical step in the expansion of primary healthcare benefits on the road toward universal health coverage.
“Through this proposed bill, all private insurers that offer a health care insurance plan in the country will be required to offer the newly proposed standard health benefits package at a minimum standard of coverage.
“In this sense, NHIA will assume the role of the insurer of last resort and will protect the poorest and most under-served in our community,” Darville stated.
The Health and Wellness minister added that in order to be a part of the system, healthcare providers would have to exhibit a high-quality standard, and individuals with private insurance will not qualify for the NHI standard benefits package.
“They will not be a part of this entire process unless they prove to be in good standing with our medical licensing agencies.
“Madam Speaker, as we seek to reduce duplications and unnecessary spending in our health care sector, individuals with private insurance coverage will receive the standard health benefits package through their private insurance and therefore be ineligible,” Darville said.
Darville said as they move to enact the bill he is hoping that there is full support from the opposition because it is crucial in ensuring that people across the country have access to healthcare.
