NHI legislation requires ‘hell of a lot more work’
The draft National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill requires “a hell of a lot more work to bring it to life”, with one doctor arguing that its anti-fraud and confidentiality safeguards need strengthening.
QC: Gov’t is ‘breaking Hawksbill Creek’ deal
An outspoken Government critic has urged it to stop using Freeport’s expiring investment incentives as leverage to “unlawfully break the Hawksbill Creek Agreement”.
Chamber chief calls for public insurer JV
The Chamber of Commerce’s chairman has called for the Government and insurance industry to consider a ‘joint venture’ over the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme’s proposed public insurer.
Non-mandatory NHI labelled ‘non-starter’
The Government’s decision to eliminate the mandatory legal requirement for all Bahamians and legal residents sign up for National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme has been labelled a “non-starter” by the Opposition’s deputy leader.
Public Accounts to probe Ruffin tax row
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will next week launch a probe to “get to the bottom” of the controversy surrounding whether hotelier Philip Ruffin still owes the Government a multi-million dollar sum in unpaid casino taxes.
Freeport suffers ‘12 years of ineptitude’
Freeport’s economic malaise is today blamed on 12 years of “ineptitude and gross mismanagement” by the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and its affiliates, a well-known attorney bemoaning its owners’ failure to reinvest despite extracting $300 million from the city.
Gov’t makes NHI ‘non-mandatory’
The revised National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill unveiled yesterday eliminates the mandatory legal requirement for all Bahamians and legal residents to sign up for the scheme, while also tightening patient data safeguards.
Morton staff urged: ‘Stick it through’ on industrial deal
Morton Salt workers were yesterday urged to “stick it through”, amid calls by some union members for its president to alleviate their financial hardship by signing off on a new industrial agreement.
Cable gains 16,600 US clients post-deal
Cable Bahamas’ US business has added 16,600 new residential customers in the two years post-acquisition, and will provide the BISX-listed provider with combined revenue growth of more than 20 per cent over the next five years.
IAN FERGUSON: The business questions politicians must answer
The years 2016 and 2017 are major political ones for the US and the Bahamas, with many persons already in campaign mode. Our democracy requires individuals, and their and constituencies, to decide who will govern, but the business community watches on nervously given what is at stake.
Ruffin blasts Obie on casino tax claim
Philip Ruffin yesterday slammed the Minister of Tourism for publicly suggesting he and his companies still owe casino taxes to the Bahamas Government, urging him to “desist” from this position.
PM slams Ingraham Gov’t on Hutchison GB port monopoly
The Prime Minister yesterday slammed the former Ingraham administration for granting a monopoly that complicated negotiations over Carnival Cruise Lines’ new east Grand Bahama port.
GBPA ‘shadow of former self’
The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) was yesterday branded “a shadow of its former self” by its ex-attorney, who urged Freeport’s 3,500 licensees to take the lead in defending their rights.
FNM fears doctor NHI ‘brain drain’
The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday expressed concerns that National Health Insurance’s (NHI) proposed payment methods could drive high-qualified doctors to leave the Bahamas.
Gov’t ‘cannot be held hostage’ by GBPA developer
Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday pledged that the Government “cannot be held hostage” to the intentions of any Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) developer, delivering his clearest warning yet that the current owners must seek an exit route.
