Dear Editor,
Recently, two of the country’s former Prime Ministers were taken seriously ill. Within hours, they were afforded the best medical care the government could provide, all as a part of their retirement packages, and they are now fully recovered. There was no need to seek medical expenses contributions, sell or remortgage their homes, beg friends for financial assistance, or have endless cookouts to cover medical costs.
Had the circumstances been different, and these former PMs were ordinary working Bahamians, achieving the same positive health outcomes would have been daunting. This stark reality underscores the dire need for a healthcare system overhaul. The Progressive Liberal Governments have diligently worked since 2017 to make healthcare universally accessible for all Bahamians. However, at every turn, they’ve been met with resistance from what can only be described as the ‘medical mafia ‘.
These obstacles became even more evident during the last . They sabotaged the PLP projects to improve the availability of quality health care for all and clarified their intentions in other ways. Under the FNM, you can fend for yourself if you don’t have private health insurance. Their genocidal aims are furthered by insurance company executives who have prioritised their hefty bonuses and shareholders’ interests over the health and welfare of hardworking Bahamians. Protecting these interests requires them to denigrate, destroy and frustrate government policy on NHI and drive their privately insured clients into the arms of their monied doctors whilst the rest of us worry about health care, thus ensuring company profits. It’s all about the money guys.
It is, therefore, no accident that Bahamian doctors are amongst the wealthiest persons in the country, probably in the Caribbean; after all, they only cater to the most affluent, who incidentally all have extensive health care coverage. Of course, when the insurance coverage is gone, these oblivious, entitled persons join the healthcare queue like the rest of us.
While we work at certain income levels in the Bahamas and enjoy company insurance coverage, we can afford to be oblivious to the struggles of many Bahamians to obtain health care for serious illnesses. However, this is temporary; trust me on this. NHI is intended to alleviate these concerns, yet it is opposed by many, especially a heartless, money-driven FNM and its financiers in the insurance industry, health care available to all. This, of course, is a rhetorical question; clearly, they want our inadequately insured loved ones to die!
This is why they stopped, reviewed, and cancelled the construction of more modern clinics and opposed the construction of a new hospital, which would relieve some of the pressure of an aging PMH. They also demolished the Clarence A. Bain building during the COVID-19 pandemic when it could have been easily retrofitted to house recovering patients rather than having sick people out in the elements and rain.
Of course, given another opportunity by Bahamian voters, the FNM will complete their plans to demolish NHI. Of course, the FNM will be aided in this nefarious scheme by many short-sighted Bahamians who an FNM operative called in a meeting he thought were unrecorded “weapons-grade idiots”.
Bahamians need to understand that any further degradation of NHI poses an existential threat to their health as they age, their parents, children and grandchildren. Old age and lack of NHI health care are a terrible combination.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
