The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Doctors Hospital’s president has called for healthcare to be ‘zero-rated’ rather than ‘exempt’ under the proposed Value-Added Tax (VAT), arguing that it is already “too late” for the Government to meet its July 1 implementation target.

Barry Rassin said trying to hit that deadline would be “wrong on so many levels”. He added: “We’re deeply concerned about it.

“Here it is; we’re only five months out, and they haven’t told us what the process is and what it means to us. The Government needs to do that.

“To me, it’s too late for them to implement this July 1. I think it would be wrong on so many levels. I think it’s the wrong tax. I understand that we obviously need to increase revenues in this time, but that isn’t the way to go in my opinion.”

Mr Rassin said VAT would ultimately increase healthcare costs in the Bahamas. “They say health care will be exempt, but it is only exempt for the patient buying healthcare services,” he explained.

“For the health care provider, I believe you still have to pay on the inputs. They haven’t given us the details. If you’re paying on the inputs but you’re not getting a turnaround on the patients, then it increases the cost of heathcare.

“It should be zero rated, not exempt, but again until they gives us those kind of details it’s hard to say,” said Mr Rassin.

With ‘health and education services’, being proposed as VAT exempt, it means that Doctors Hospital and other healthcare providers will not be charging the 15 per cent tax on their patient billings.

They, however, will still have to pay VAT on their inputs and, since they are exempt, will be unable to ‘net’ this off against any tax they might pay on the services they sell.

Mr Rassin said that Doctors Hospital, meanwhile, was moving ahead with key components of its medical tourism programme.

“We’re excited about our cochlear ear programme,” he said. “We’re hoping to have that up and running by June 1. That will be the centre for North America.

“They can’t do in North America what we can do here, because it’s an implant that comes from Austria. It’s approved in Europe but not in the United States, so we would be able to train American and Canadian surgeons on how to do this as well as bring in patients for the procedure.”

Mr Rassin said Doctors Hospital was also offering spine surgery procedures.

An even bigger issue, however, is its proposed stem cell treatment programme. “The Government will hopefully finish their regulations in the next few weeks. We’re ready to go. We can plug that in quickly,” said Mr Rassin.

“A lot of people are talking about doing it but we have the infrastructure. It would be pretty easy for us to get started.”

Mr Rassin added that Doctors Hospital’s medical fitness programme, and its corporate wellness program me, were progressing well.

“With regards to our corporate wellness programme, we’re getting into companies and doing health assessments for their staff, and working with those companies to help reduce the risk within their staff, looking at glucose levels, obesity, cholesterol and high blood pressure,” he said.

“Those are major issues in our country, and what we’re hoping to do is get in, do the assessment and show companies that it is to their benefit to work with their employees on an individualised programme to help them get healthy again. If we do that, we should over time be able to reduce claims and reduce health premiums.”