The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The private health insurance market will evolve with the expansion of universal health care (UHC), the Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) chairman said yesterday.

Emmanuel Komolafe, a panelist at the Insurance Association of the Caribbean’s (IAC) 2016 conference, said: “When we look at the private health insurance market in the Bahamas, it will evolve as we expand the UHC system in The Bahamas.”

Mr Komolafe added that as the sector continues to grow and evolve, insurers have to pay more attention to the value proposition, the service to their clients, health and wellness programmes and become more engaged with clients.

Mr Komolafe said the BIA has always called for a comprehensive universal health care system. “The question has always been how we do it,” he added.

“We do have universal healthcare in the Bahamas currently. NHI is just the funding mechanism. We have challenges in the public healthcare system, like many countries. There is a need for comprehensive healthcare reform.

“We are talking about NHI but we are also talking about taxes on healthy foods and education, because we have some challenges with diabetes and other illnesses. It has to be comprehensive and not just focused on NHI.”

The introduction of NHI’s primary healthcare was slated for April but, in late March, Health Minister Dr Perry Gomez acknowledged that there would be a delay of about six months so the Government could establish a public insurer.