By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Tribune Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville yesterday tabled the new National Health Insurance Bill 2022, which once passed will repeal the NHI legislation of 2016.
This new bill, Mr Darville told the House of Assembly, represented the Davis administration’s commitment to healthcare reform by way of universal healthcare for all Bahamian citizens and residents.
Through the 2016 law, the National Health Insurance Bahamas programme was launched and the National Health Insurance Authority, the agency responsible for the delivery of accessible and affordable healthcare services to all Bahamians, was formed.
The minister said to call NHI anything less than a success story would be an understatement, adding that many countries around the world were looking at The Bahamas’ model.
He said: “Since 2017 we have enrolled over 135,000 Bahamians in the NHI programme who are now covered for some essential primary healthcare services and have been paired with their selected family doctor throughout our archipelago.
“The authority has also focused on providing coverage for the most underserved in our communities, including residents of many Family Islands. Today nearly 20,000 of those enrolled in NHI live across 17 Family Islands and we are still expanding our services throughout The Bahamas.
“Patient satisfaction rates remain well over 90 percent and according to the recent polling, 95 percent of Bahamians still believe that the National Health Insurance Authority is the right path towards universal health coverage and despite many challenges we face, NHI remains a shining example of unity and commitments towards this bold transformative social agenda.
“Over the past year National Health Insurance has proudly collaborated with other key system stakeholders, including the Public Hospitals Authority, the Department of Public Health, the Pan American Health Organisation and many others in an effort to streamline the delivery of healthcare services by way of integrated care.
“This modern approach to healthcare will improve the clinical outcomes and access to essential primary healthcare delivery services throughout our country.”
He continued: “While the growth of NHIA is a tremendous success story and is history in the making, the current legislation is no longer sufficient to meet the evolving needs of NHI and the increasingly complex financial landscape existing in The Bahamas.
“Over the past few years with the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic and Dorian we have witnessed first-hand the importance of maintaining accessible primary healthcare and the impact of primary healthcare coverage on the overall health and wellbeing of our people.
“We have also seen the staggering financial impacts of acute care and the tremendous burden at our hospital brought on by patients suffering from chronic non-communicable diseases. The reality is in many cases the prescription to address our complex health challenges is in affordable, robust primary healthcare that can mitigate many of our health challenges brought on by the impact of poorly managed non-communicable diseases.”
He said the new bill would modernise NHIA legislation to meet the current realities of the healthcare system and bring together both public and private clinical practices under a common finance structure that rewards performance quality and service excellence.
It also lays out the legal framework for the rollout of a suite of services called the standard health benefits package that all NHI beneficiaries will receive what is available now and much more.
“Some of these services included primary healthcare services, health education and promotions, early detection and preventative care, diagnostic imaging, paediatric and maternity care, screen programmes for cancers and other conditions,” Dr Darville said.
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