In other news from the highest office in the land, yesterday the UDP the new NHI bill makes a provision for users to pay contributions to access NHI services.
This suggests that Belizeans would have to start paying for the famously free NHI, but the PM said not now, maybe sometime in the future:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I wish the leader of the opposition would do her work and understand because she was explaining the whole rationale. The rationale for that is more for the future not right now. NHI is providing primary healthcare and when you see some people say I will go to NHI and pay $2 because the government through the taxpayers and through the Boledo where we put I think about 20 million dollars into NHI to help pay for that. But in the future thinking years down once it is properly operating and running we could look at probably providing more services like tertiary, secondary and tertiary services. And we believe that if we can do that we can pool everybody's monies of those that are participating in that then they will be able to, then there will be a small charge and that is what they do in other countries like for example Costa Rica, the workers pay something and then they can get added services, added medical services I know that the insurance companies in Belize have been looking at how they could partner with government as opposed to them sending people abroad for services that they could probably get it here at a fraction of the cost or people at NHI have been looking at that opportunity that they later on in the future then we can level up or go up the services we want to provide so it has nothing to do that we will put a tax on right now for the primary healthcare services we are offering at almost free under the NHI."
