fp Turks and Caicos

If you work for a business, you must pay 2.5 percent of your wages up to a maximum of $195 each month to NHIP, with your employer matching that amount. Self-employed people must pay $250 a month, although lower rates of $150 and $50 are available to those who make less than $5,000 a month if they can prove their income is less. They also must give the National Insurance Board permission to access their financial records to determine income and submit quarterly earnings statements. People can appeal decisions of NHIP staff to the full board.

Last week NHIB Chief Executive Officer Brian Hogan said he was please to see the majority of people had already signed up, noting about 400 employers had enrolled approximately 11,000 employees, and that most of the 1,500 self-employed people in the country had also enrolled so far. Some people with concerns about various aspects of the NHIP have called for a boycott, but it remains to be seen how many will do that and what might happen to them.

The NHIP requires every employed person to pay premiums so that everyone is covered by health insurance. Hogan has that that about 90 percent of people in the country had no health insurance while the rest have their own health insurance through private companies. He has suggested that people with private insurance who want to keep the policy, but are worried about the extra expense of national health insurance do have options. “Each situation is unique, but with the comprehensive coverage you will now receive locally, you could look into how you can change your current coverage to reflect that.”

Medical benefits under the NHIP are set to begin in April with the opening of the new hospitals on Provo and Grand Turk. Until then, people with private insurance would make claims under those policies as they normally do. Once NHIP is active, some insurance companies such as Bupa – used by many ex-pats – apparently require claims in the TCI to go through NHIP first. “If the insured has another policy that provides benefits also covered by this (Bupa) policy, benefits will be coordinated,” the Bupa Essential Care policy states. “All claims incurred in the country of residence must be submitted in the first instance against the other policy.”

“Various insurance companies in the TCI are looking for ways to adapt their policies to compliment the new national insurance plan,” said Stanford Charlton, country manager for Fidelity. “Every person’s situation is unique, and they need to assess their individual policy with their agent. Call your local insurance company for advice about your personal situation.”

For more information on the NHIP, call 941-8861, 941-3260 or 941-8926, or visit the web site at tcinhip.tc.