Opposition Leader outlines way forward for healthcare

Should the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) be returned to power, it will create a Ministry of Health and Wellness, which will liaise more with the medical community to improve healthcare in this country.

 

Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition, Mia Mottley maintained there is a need to deepen the level of consultation with that group of professionals, in order to determine the best way to improve healthcare financing and ensure its sustainability. She spoke to that as she contended that the BLP does not believe there is any sustainability for the sector in the recently introduced National Social Responsibility Levy. In fact, she argued that not only is it unlikely to yield what is projected; she noted it is not ring fenced for use by the health sector. The issue was raised while delivering the feature address on the topic ‘The Vision for Healthcare in Barbados’, Friday night at the 80th University of the West Indies (UWI)/ Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) Awards Ceremony, held in the Henry Fraser Lecture Theatre, Cave Hill Campus.

 

Her comments came as she lamented that too many Barbadians are paying out of pocket for their healthcare and the risk of pauperisation of families is too high in the event of a major medical event. As such, she is suggesting that the country would better benefit from a system that improves financing protection of Barbadians through risks pooling.

 

“In this regard, we owe it to ourselves to investigate the benefits of enlarging the pool in a co-operative manner within CARICOM, where many countries face similar challenges. Simply put, the larger the pool, the more efficient it will be in sharing the collective risks and driving down the costs to individuals. So whatever the mix we settle on – continued State-led financing, social insurance and voluntary private insurance, we need to reduce the out-of-pocket spend of our people,” she said.

 

The Opposition Leader was quick to dismiss the idea of carbon copying international financing models, maintaining that whatever system is introduced, it must adequately meet our specific needs, size and culture. 

 

“There are many other considerations to take into account. For example, can we negotiate collectively with others in CARICOM on the procurement of key drugs and equipment to drive down those costs? Do we follow population health management to ensure that wellness of our population is our ultimate objective, keeping people out of hospitals? Do we incentivise those who take responsibility for their wellness, just as the motor industry does with no claim bonuses? We believe that the discussions thus far on the financing model have not been wide enough and have to go further before we settle on the model,” she insisted. 

 

She said that the decision regarding the financing model must be “thorough and robust”, and is giving the assurance that if her Party is charged with settling the issue, no one will be left to fend on their own when in need of medical services.

 

“Lack of money must never prevent access to basic health services. We have already seen the disastrous decline on enrolment at this Campus because of policy decisions which did not take into account people’s capacity to pay. This is not who we are. This is not who we must become,” she maintained. (JRT)