The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Pulling down or making one segment of the population’s life more difficult in order to raise up another group is not how you create equality.

Unfortunately, weak governments tend to do this because it is easier to do than to figure out how to build a strong economy which will raise all people.

The current debate on national health insurance will do just that, it is going to drag down and make worse the healthcare options for a large portion of the Bahamian population. According to Sanigest, the government’s consulting firm, the money currently spent by the government providing quality health insurance for their customs officers, immigration and police officers to name just a few will be allocated to help fund the new national health insurance.

Simply put, all these hard-working Bahamian public servants are going to lose their fantastic healthcare plan and they will be handed a healthcare plan that is vastly inferior, and that will restrict their ability to choose who will provide their care for them.

This administration has not been honest with these employees. They’re trying to scare them into accepting national health insurance by telling them this is the only option for their care because it will guarantee that if they lose their job they will still have some form of insurance. So drag everybody down based on one fear “what if you lose your job?”

A strong creative government should be able to come up with a solution to this one problem which allows them to keep the insurance they have today with all its options. It is creative thinking that propels a nation forward instead of dragging it back down with policies that have failed in other countries around the world. It is unethical and immoral to not tell our public servants what they are soon to lose. They work hard for us so why is this government not working hard for them?

CONCERNED

Nassau,

March 6, 2015,