The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

DNA Deputy Leader Chris Mortimer yesterday criticised the possibility of a new tax to fund the government’s proposed National Health Insurance scheme. He said the “bad tax policy” is “part of the reason we have people dying in the streets.”

“The level of crime in our society is because people can’t find jobs or because the government is implementing bad tax policies, driving businesses out of business, driving people onto the welfare roles, and is part of the reason we have people dying in the streets,” Mr Mortimer said.

“I think it’s important for the government to understand there’s a sequence to things. We have to fix the economy. We have to create well paying jobs for our people. We have to broaden the tax base, and then we can start to implement things like NHI.”

He said while universal healthcare is a “laudable goal” it should not be implemented in January 2016, as proposed by the government. He suggested delaying the plan for another three or four years.

Last October, Costa Rican accounting firm Sanigest Internacional provided a report to the government on the feasibility of NHI and presented options for financing universal healthcare.

According to the report, of which The Tribune has obtained a copy, the consultants have suggested a payroll tax ranging from one per cent to five per cent to finance NHI.

The report explores various other revenue-raising options, including levying a “sin tax” on alcohol and tobacco that would, the report estimates, yield some $64.93m in NHI revenues in 2016, an estimate the report concedes is at the high end. This yield, Sanigest forecasts, will increase to $68m in 2017 and $71.276m in 2018, with the increases driven by economic growth.

Another option identified is a tax on auto insurance premiums. According to the report, NHI could cost $633m if implemented as a comprehensive package.

Last week, Health Minister Dr Perry Gomez told the House of Assembly that NHI “will likely” be financed through a new tax on Bahamians. At the time he did not specify what this new tax would be, nor did he say how much it would cost taxpayers to introduce the plan.

He added that a new tax would be “better than death”.