Yesterday we told you about the sudden and surprising resignation of Dr. Ramon Figueroa, Social Security Board's Director for NHI. It comes at a critical juncture, just as the NHI rollout is going ahead and coincides exactly with the date Social Security had planned to sign 8 contracts with primary care providers. And today the UDP issued a release to say basically that those contracts are the problem. That's because the Opposition's information is that NHI will cost $40 million per year, and only $5 million of that has been found. So when those contracts are signed, there's no clear idea of how they will be honoured. Dr. George Gough who has represented the Opposition on the NHI Committee for the past 5 years told us why he thinks the national rollout of NHI is just electioneering.
Dr. George Gough, UDP Standard Bearer - Fort George
"The UDP advocates for a national health insurance. We know its very important. We loom at the benefits of it for the people on the south side and the south of Belize. We advocate for it. Our only problem is that there has been a certain technical advice given that it has to be rolled out in a very progressive, a very technical manner that its going to work because it is primary health care, this is not selling land; this is primary health care of a nation And secondly you have to identify a sustainable source of funding and now all of a sudden they want to rollout and fast track the process which will take another year or two in two months for it to be able to be countrywide before elections. Now what makes it even worse is that they want us to approve $40 million for primary care alone per year for two years when they themselves only have $5 million which was approved from Social Security money last year. Tell me how are you going to strap any government that comes to power with $80 million, knowing very well that you only have $5 million, both public and private binding contracts. You are playing politics, you are simply playing politics.
Now our contention is very simple: if the very technical people, somebody like Dr. Figueroa who is very credible, I know him personally, if somebody like him that has given all the last few years to this program, is looking at what they are trying to distort and they have told them this is how it should be done and they are not listening to it and on top of that they are, I don't know what to say, they are putting contracts in both the public and private domain for two years knowing very well they don't have the money for the sums of $40 million for primary care alone per year. I don't know what other word to use here Jules. Think about it. Think about it. Somebody is going to sign a contract for $40 million a year, not knowing that they have the money. So our contention is slow down. We are asking the government to slow down on this. This is healthcare. We the UDP, we believe in NHI, we believe that if they sign those contracts for the next two years, they are going to put NHI at risk of not being able to survive because they are going to sign contracts that are not sustainable."
Speaking with Chairman of the Social Security Board of Directors Michel Chebat this evening, he said he has no idea where Dr. Gough is coming from. He said he expects that the contracts with the primary care providers will be signed next week. He adds that a replacement has already been found for Dr. Figueroa.
