The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff  Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOWEN Bowe, chairman of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), said businesses are unlikely to drop existing private health insurance coverage for their employees when so many questions about the government’s proposed National Health Insurance scheme remain unanswered.

BCCEC CEO Edison Sumner also told The Tribune yesterday that he doesn’t believe employers will drop private coverage for their employees “at any time in 2016” because of the uncertainty surrounding NHI.

Their comments contrast to those of NHI Project Director Dr Delon Brennen who has said that companies offering private health insurance benefits to employees are likely to stop providing such coverage when primary care services begin to be delivered through NHI.

Registration for NHI will begin on January 18, with the government seeking to roll out its primary healthcare package in April and its vital healthcare package in nine to 12 months.

While details of the vital benefits package are still being worked out, the government aims to have its primary healthcare package cover services like mammograms, prostate exams, X-rays, laboratory work, physical exams and medication resulting from primary care.

Among other things, however, Mr Bowe said employers may find that the services provided under the various NHI packages aren’t comprehensive enough to warrant replacing the current private insurance packages they provide for their employees.

“All business are in a holding pattern,” he said yesterday. “I don’t think anyone will be minded to outright drop any coverage until they are certain what the benefits package and replacement will be.

“If you have an employee that falls gravely ill, even if they don’t have sufficient medical insurance, businesses will see it as a moral obligation to do all they could to help. Right now, while the government might take umbrage at the constant criticism, if you boil it down to basic parts, there is uncertainly as to the true roll out timeframe of the programme and the cost of the programme. Registration is in (just over) a week. Primary benefits package will come out in three months, but history with government shows that three months could turn into 18 months. That level of uncertainly isn’t one that businesses can budget on.”

He added: “And there is also no certainty as to what the actual benefits package would be. If as an employer I buy catastrophic insurance, dental, major medical coverage for my employees, I want to know what elements will go into the NHI package. In the absence of knowing this, businesses won’t be inclined to drop their insurance because they don’t know if it’s being replaced with an equal or better package. Then there’s the issue, which the government is being dismissive on, that is cost. I think persons in the business community don’t make investment decisions without knowing the cost. The whole funding, business strategy and profitability changes are based on what something will cost. So in lacking clarity on this, businesses aren’t sure if the government will be able to fund this without a tax in the first six to nine months as the government says. And will they implement a tax? Will it be a three per cent tax, or five per cent or two per cent? The business community is uncertain. While people in the government see that as being combative or resistant to change, to businesses, not being specific and informative is like saying you are asking me to walk into a dark room and pray there’s nothing hazardous in the way.”

It remains to be seen if the Christie administration would implement another tax on Bahamians, with a general election looming in early 2017 and many still reeling from the 2015 rollout of value added tax.

Mr Sumner said an additional tax might prove too burdensome for the business community.

“Businesses are already hurting and having tremendous challenges keeping their doors open, largely because of fees, service charges, having to maintain staff levels and no one wants to see unemployment rise,” Mr Sumner said. “There must be some consideration given to any new tax system and even some current system as it relates to this. Whereas in the past you may have any of these issues that were more of a concern for smaller companies, larger ones are calling and voicing concerns about taxes and fees imposed on them. When that happens, the first line of casualty is human capital.”