Ball now in my administration’s court to fix NHI — Premier
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has acknowledged that the responsibility for fixing the broken National Health Insurance (NHI) system in the territory now rests squarely with his government.
Dr Wheatley said the NHI system was not properly designed and emphasised that Ronnie Skelton, the current Opposition Leader and former Health Minister, should be blamed for this.
“We’re talking about the fact that the NHI was supposed to fund public health,” the Premier said in the House of Assembly. “I have great love and respect for the Leader of the Opposition. But let’s be honest. Let’s be honest with ourselves. The NHI was not designed properly. And the Minister for Health– I’m sorry, Leader of the Opposition. The ball was in his court.”
Dr Wheatley noted that, despite the challenges since its inception, his government now has an opportunity to fix the issues. “Before I was in government, I said to the now Leader of the Opposition, ‘Let’s go back to the drawing board with this. Let’s hold up on it.’ We went forward with it,” he stated. “But the ball is in our court now to fix it.”
The Premier’s remarks come amid long-standing concerns about the NHI’s sustainability. While the programme was established to make healthcare more accessible, it has required substantial government funding to maintain, placing immense pressure on the territory’s budget.
Dr Wheatley called for unity and cooperation to tackle the NHI’s shortcomings, urging elected officials and other stakeholders to work together. “We recognise that we have challenges in the Virgin Islands… We all have a collective responsibility to make sure that we help to solve those challenges and those problems,” he said.
He urged lawmakers to strive for integrity as they worked to achieve common goals. “We want to portray ourselves to be persons of integrity, but yet we want to manipulate and deceive. That is not our job as legislators,” he argued. “We hold the government accountable, but we have to make sure that we maintain our personal integrity.”
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I can not understand why the business owners who deduct NHI payments from their staff but do not pay them into NHI are not prosecuted, you all know who they are.
What about the crooked doctors who are marking up their medications, tests, and visits and are bleeding the system?
The patients are only seeing their copay they don’t even see how much the practitioner is charging NHI. Natalio if you fix this properly you will easily get four more years.
Let’s call this exactly what it is: the Premier deserves real credit here for focusing on the heart of the issue. For too long, others have been unwilling to confront this, because we all know who benefits from keeping things just as they are. Take, for instance, the so-called VG Committee for Health. When the community learned how their own resources were being misused, there was genuine outrage—and rightfully so. But what did we hear from this committee? Silence. Not a single word. Why? Because it doesn’t suit their agenda.
If they were serious about solutions, they’d be offering ideas for reforming NHI. But let’s be real here: they aren’t about fixing the system. They’re about power, about narratives that serve them. And you can bet that unless there’s an angle for finger-pointing at the Minister, they’ll be nowhere to be found in the conversation.
When will this Administration fix NHI? I hope they don’t think that the Voters will wait until another Election Cycle to Vote them back in to fix this. This NHI that is killing the Country has been long overdue and if it is not fixed this time around, then we certainly need a different Administration to deal with fixing it. NHI will not be another Campaign Gimmick to fool the Voters. It doesn’t take Rocket Science to see what is wrong with it and who it benefits more. Certainly not the People.
Duck citizens more tax coming Christmas for the doctors just a bigger boat for them all , better facilities or service or skills available no chance .
Do fees for the same procedures covered by different insurance companies amount to the same as that which is charged to NHI? If not is that legal?
Premier, your statement sounds very childish. This is your second term and NHI still isn’t fixed. While you at it make it optional. I am sick of NHI.
National *esskitt Insurance
BECAUSE LORNA IS OUT OF HER CORNER
ALL THE DOCTORS ARE BUYING UP ALL THE REAL ESTATE AROUND THE BVI
You better hurry up as this is costing the BVI $80,000,000 (80 million USD) per year of which $50 million was paid out to the Eureka clinic…
The info you quoted is not correct the 50M was paid over 5 years not one. so 10M per year. I don’t think this is excessive as this should be covered by the NHI contributions. But only if employers are paying fees collected. This is an issue the private insurance is we had covering the expenses less a deductable. Then the NHI is compulsary and the extra coverage is not the same price as it was so were paying double insurance to make sure were covered for any major surgery.
Took the best bit of the UK system and the co pay form the USA system and ended up paying double the price to make sure we are covered.
The second option is to fast track work permit holders in to increase the pop to that their fees generate enough to pay for the NHI. Its a numbers game. Or they put up the taxes on people as its failing.
While you are at it Hon. Wheatley fix the unsustainable pension issue in Government! THAT is bleeding our budget!
Just because you don’t work government..people give a whole quarter century of service what the heck! Focus on social security which is the biggest scam many don’t ever see a social security pay out a whole life of 65 years to see something and people paying from 16 years old. The real scam is social security and u all fail to see it.
Remind him that all pensioners waiting for their increase too.
Just a different color -same predator mentality / we are wondering when they achieve their goal of getting ALL THE MONEY FOR THEMSELVES , WHAT ARE GOING TO FO WITH IT ❓️ IF THEY OWN EVERYTHING WHAT ARE THEY GONNA SPEND IT ON ❓️ GREEDINESS IS THEIR FIRST NAME AND THE FIRST INSTINCTS IS TO GRAB EVERYTHING IN SIGHT
is a word none of the elected politician’s know the true honest meaning. However they definitely are aware of the conspiracy meaning.
BVIslanders are BVI’s biggest problem. The Doctors want to be able to work at the main hospital while running their own private clinics. The public facilities were never upgraded and developed in order to meet the needs of the community hence, private practices popping up all over to fill the void. A business person that sees business opportunities are not greedy, they are being business people. Do not hate on Vanterpool or the others who invested in their businesses as they saw opportunities. For NHI to work the way it was intended, the Government will have to make some very tough decisions and sad to say no matter who is elected, it will never happen. People have zero confidence in the public clinics unless it’s for routine issues or the Hospital when it’s an emergency. Some things should not be Government run, perhaps it’s time for a Private/Public partnership when it comes to healthcare so all can benefit.
You are an apologist for the greedy and thats exactly why it has run rampant. With a system written to favor the private parctices they did not just see an opportunity and take it , they CREATED the opportunity through lesgislation. And with owners of private practices on the Board of Director do you really think the Hospital will be the first priority? So spare us the BS argument.
Doctors should, given their already high salary, be kept to greater ethical, moral and financial standards.
The government created this mess, what is amazing is that some of the electorate thinks that after creating it they’re also capably of cleaning it up!
The private places making more than d gov
This nhi makes no sense
And with that COVID vaccine sickening ppl nhi is crying
Imagine doctors at a certain private place now prescribing double or triple meds u need plus everything now is u/s mri or scans
Vg NHI office need to close they wasting money paying rent for that space cause the workers in there are useless
Enough talk dr. Poetry just fix the problem