It's the last day of the budget debate and right now the PM is wrapping up the debate - which we'll show you shortly.
The UDP's Queen Square Rep Godwin Haylock rose this morning to criticize the government's NHI program, which the LOO already requested an audit for.
But while the PUP repeatedly complains that the UDP provides no solutions, Haylock came ready with recommendations for the program.
Godwin Haylock, Area Rep., Queen Square
"Under this year's budget, Cayo district will see 70% of their NHI patient attend private clinics while only 30% of them will go to public clinics. Yes this may be a quick way to increase access and efficiency to healthcare but no doubt it increases the cost of healthcare because companies are first and foremost profit driven. So in my respectful view, sending patients to a private clinic is not a very smart financial move. And now here lies the amusing power of capitalism and politics in Belize. The PUP re-nationalize Boledo in this country about 5 years ago, taking the Boledo profits away from a private company and calling it Fu We Boledo. We on this side recognize the benefits of that prime minister but we also recognize that Fu We Boledo is now starting to look like Fu We Biggest Bukut because the profits from the people's Boledo along with some of taxpayers hard earned money are being channeled right back to the PUP cronies in the form of lavish NHI contracts."
"We recommend the following. Cap the share of NHI services delivered by private providers to no more than 40 - 50 percent ensuring that the public system remains the backbone of primary healthcare in Belize. Introduce a standard patient pricing model where both private and public providers are reimbursed at the same rate to prevent inflated costs and ensure fairness. Implement performance based contract for providers where payments are tied to measurable income such as reduced wait times, patient satisfaction and treatment success rates, strengthened transparency and accountability by publishing NHI contracts and conduct and release NHI audits, that way Belizeans can see how their money is being spent."
