Sidney Sweeting, DDS
In 1967 I had recently returned home from school and political rallies were something new to me so I was in the crowd at the corner of East and Bay Streets listening to a candidate for the PLP. He was talking about the J.P. Sands store that was on “Bay Street” before I was born and he was lamenting the fact that they had a counter for white customers and a separate counter for black customers.
I could not understand why that should be an issue in the election of 1967.
Forty years later I still wonder what kind of small minds will seek political gain from injustices committed many generations in the past.
For more than two years the country has been promised that a contract would be signed for the airport renovation. It was finally done last week but can anyone doubt that the delay was so that they could announce it just before the general election. It is painful to think of how many tourists, and Bahamians, have had to suffer the indignities of a dirty, unorganized airport waiting for that grand announcement – all in the name of politics.
A health care plan has been rushed through Parliament, with responsible parties warning that the plan, as presented, will be non-viable and non-sustainable so the question is being asked “What’s the rush?”
There has been no consultation with any of the stakeholders but the fear of course is that objections to this plan and alternate suggestions may have delayed the passage of the bill through Parliament and the electorate needed to at least have the impression that this Government will take care of their health.
In today’s Tribune, Sir Arthur Foulkes has written about the evils of discrimination committed in the name of politics. He speaks of the hardships endured by three of many families because someone dared to express an opinion contrary to Government policy or embrace the philosophy of another political party.
The Tribune also reported this morning that, once again, Government has hired a consultant group to produce a plan that would “alleviate our traffic problems”. We would be shocked to learn how many of these consulting exercises the Government has sanctioned and even worse, the toll on the treasury.
So, just naming a few, we have baseless racial issues, unnecessary delays with the airport contract, a hasty rush to get a terribly flawed health care plan through Parliament, political discrimination and another traffic consultant group which, if history is a guide, will amount to naught.
It is sad, terribly sad, to witness in our own country the evils that men will do, all in the name of politics.
While I recognize your concerns, it is unortunate that they seem rooted in a political philosophy. This country was founded on possibility that we would take care of each other as a people. Obviously, that is not the case. What I see in this regard is the fact that private doctors have taken their need to make more money, public in an attempt to fight againts price control on the provision of medical service. I have watched since my reurn home a sorted system of checks and balances between doctors andprivate insurance companies, where claims and services are sometimes approved or declined based on not who is in the network, but which doctor went to, based on price. This is one of a few countries, where people with insurance are denied access to care until they pay their practitioner their copay, whether that is $30.00 or $3000.00. And that my dear doctor is wrong. The NHI Bill was a body of regulations that would set the ground work for the installation of the system, this is the same argument that levied when NIB was proposed. The reality is with the government taking on the responsibility to carry high risk persons and claims, it limits the ability of private carriers to charge for the provision of that specific service, and drastically will impact their bottom line.
NHI is needed, and I would welcome the input of the stakeholders, but not at the expense that they would want to administer the system. I am sure what will happen is some coordinated effort to provide NHI and private insurance in tandem.
Thank you for your response, Bones
I could spend a lot of time trying to answer your comment but that would be better done by referring you to the website
http://www.bahamashealthcarereform.org
where you will see that none of us in the Coalition are against a plan to improve the health care of the Bahamian people. We just do not want the plan that this Government has put forth. History has proven this plan to be a total disaster in country after country.
Finally, the last thing you can accuse us of, in truth, is that our concerns, as you say, are rooted in political philosophy.
If I read your last paragraph correctly that is basically what we want, but the Minister has consistently refused to meet with us.
S.Sweeting
Dear Bones:
What is wrong with doctors or anyone else fighting price controls?
Price controls have been proven in study after study to cause shortages of goods and services.
However, it seems to me that doctors are raising some very serious issues about costing, coverage etc that we all need to know before jumping into socialised medicine with both feet.
We are already in it (socialised medicine) with one foot and know the results we get from that in the public sector.
Why destroy the private health care system as well?