Damion Mitchell and
Trudy Simpson, Gleaner Reporters
CARLINGTON WILMOT /FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Dr. Wendel Abel (left), jokes with Dr. Winston Davidson (right) while Minister of Health, John Junor joins in the fun. They were attending The Gleaner Editors' Forum on Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel.
HEALTH MINISTER John Junor said he is not convinced that the government should hastily implement a prepayment health scheme to access health care services.
Mr. Junor was reacting to comments made by Dr. Trevor McCartney, chairman of the Medical Council of Jamaica, and Dr. Ken Baugh, Opposition leader and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) spokesman on health, at The Gleaner Editors' Forum on the state of the Nation's Health in New Kingston Wednesday night.
Both medical practitioners recommended the development of prepayment schemes for health services, which they said would serve the public much better than the current fee collection service.
MOVE WOULD BE ILL ADVISED
However, Minister Junor disagreed, saying that such a move would be ill advised at this time. He pointed to studies conducted five years ago showing that the system being advocated would cost $14 billion and officials would still face obstacles collecting the money from self-employed and other groups outside the current tax net.
"... Self-employed people as they do now very rarely pay even the taxes they are to pay such as NIS and NHT which are contributory schemes; so you would have a sure pool of resources coming from employees and employers and an unsure pool from the self-employed," Mr. Junor argued.
"You would have to go through the same process ... determining how you deal with medically indigent persons. They may be in a job today, (but) they may not (be) tomorrow."
Dr. McCartney is, however, insisting that direct prepayment, whether through additional taxation or otherwise,would ensure a better health service. He noted that it was less demanding to pay for health care when people are well.
PARENTS SHOULD FIND MECHANISM
"Patients should prepay for their care when they are well. Find a mechanism ... a simple mechanism which may include adding on one and a half per cent whether it be GCT, NIS (via) direct means not hidden behind some agenda where you need to introduce tremendous bureaucracy to obtain the funds," said Dr. McCartney.
Dr. Baugh, while commending programmes such as NI GOLD and National Health Fund, added, "... I think that it may not be feasible right now but the policy should be in place so that as we improve in terms of the levels of employment and better incomes, people can buy into prepaid health schemes."
And referring to a study he conducted among 10 countries including Jamaica, he said that where out of pocket expenditure was a small proportion then the health care was better, and that where there was a lot of out of pocket expenditure on health, the outcome was poorer.
He said in countries that had organised funding (and) organised health coverage, either through Government, health insurance schemes or social security schemes, they were "far better off than those countries that depended on people spending money when they are sick."
