Health insurance is a highly desirable commodity for a majority of Jamaicans. This was confirmed by a recent survey which found that 85 per cent of persons who are not now covered by health insurance, would welcome it.
The findings were contained in a Gleaner-commissioned survey conducted by pollster Bill Johnson and his team in September.
As many as 89 per cent of 1,200 respondents, ages 18 to 65 and upwards, said the Government should introduce a national health insurance plan to cover all health care and medical costs.
Considering the current and future challenges in health-care financing and the crucial role that the National Health Fund (NHF) has played in subsidising health care, the Government has mandated the NHF to develop such a scheme in order to arrive at a well-funded health sector that will deliver quality and timely care to the population.
“We are looking at some sort of national insurance,” confirmed NHF Chairman Chris Zacca. “I think out-of-pocket payment at point-of-care is an obstacle to access in Jamaica, so another way to tackle it is to create an insurance pool of funds which would represent almost a free payment for service, and I think this will be more manageable going forward.”
He was quick to point out that discussions were merely at the preliminary stage. Added to the fact that legislative changes will be necessary, such reform could be years away.
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