Those who believe in the United Workers Party (UWP) promise to provide $75,000 in annual health insurance coverage for each Saint Lucian citizen, must be suffering from an acute case of pareidolia, where they conjure meaning and substance from nebulous contours. They are hallucinating order out of chaos. Not sure which office or orifice arrived at that figure, nor how they did. No, I am not being uncharitable.

Undoubtedly, we all should embrace healthcare as an important pillar in national development. However, this must not prevent us from distinguishing between a wish and a plan or strategy. What the UWPs have done is express a wish, but they have not demonstrated any idea on how to translate it into reality. During the 2021 election campaign, the UWP made a similar promise to provide $75,000 in annual health insurance coverage for the citizens of Saint Lucia. Prior to that, each year since 2018, they had been promising to deliver a white paper on health insurance, which to date, no one has seen. After nearly ten years, one would have imagined a more thought-out strategy for delivering on such a vaunted promise.

Pay attention to what the LOO said on a recent platform outing:

“ Health care is not a service; health care is a basic human right. And the men and women on this platform are committed to providing affordable quality health care to all Saint Lucians. We must accept one basic principle that in order for us to have a proper healthcare service in Saint Lucia, every single Saint Lucian must have health care insurance.... No government by itself can pay for health care. You cannot sit every year and budget how many people are going to get sick and cannot work. So, you cannot go to the hospital, and the hospital does not get compensated for the services it's done; because if you keep doing that, when you go to the well too often the well will become dry. It means that everybody who goes to a hospital must pay for their services. And the only way we could ensure that all Saint Lucians can afford to pay for health care is that every single Saint Lucian, whether you're young, old, employed or unemployed, you must have health care insurance. “

The above quote exposes the perfidious nature of SOS7, pledging to reduce sources of government revenue whilst simultaneously promising to provide more costly services to citizens. For the moment, let us focus on health insurance.

Taking their promise as stated, with a population of approximately 180,000, the value of national coverage would be in the region of $13.5 billion. For context, Saint Lucia's GDP in 2024 was $6.92 billion. Of course, there is a difference between the value of coverage and the cost of coverage, so we need not be unduly put off or frightened by the supposed value of coverage, since not all persons would be ill at the same time or with the same ailment/diagnosis. However, clarity is needed regarding the cost of coverage, and how such cost will be satisfied.

To date, we have heard nothing on the basket of services which the $75,000 would cover. Similarly, we do not know if there are any caps on any of the services provided. For instance, if vision is to be covered, will there be and what would the cap be? The same applies to dental services. Is that $75,000 limited to on-island care, and or restricted to public hospitals?

Who will meet the cost of that insurance coverage? Will the government meet that cost and pay the insurance provider(s) or will individuals be required to pay premiums? As per the last population census, excluding the health benefits provided by the NIC, less than 18 percent of the population has health insurance. Given that 82 percent of the population do not have health insurance, one may assume that for the majority, it is because of financial vulnerability. Further, given the LOO's stated position that healthcare is a right, and everyone should have health insurance, will the government not need additional tax revenue to raise the required funding to provide coverage for the vulnerable? Will there be co-payment for any or certain services? In that context, is it wise to remove the health and security levy?

If premiums are to be paid by citizens, will each person pay a similar amount irrespective of their health and morbidity profile? To whom will they make such payments? Will they pay premiums on an individual or household basis? Is it practical, equitable or realistic to expect children, elderly and unemployed to pay for health insurance premiums?

After two election cycles of making that same promise, answers to those questions should be available. Health care is too important for the Leader of the Opposition (LOO ) to treat it with such flippancy.

By Darrel Montrope

The post SOS7 and Health Insurance: A case of pareidolia! appeared first on Caribbean News Global .

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