Health Minister describes as “historic move” launch of National Health Insurance Pilot Program

Darroux says the NHI pilot is an essential element in guaranteeing the right to health

Minister for Health, Kenneth Darroux, has praised the official implementation of a National Health Insurance (NHI) Pilot Program, saying that it is a “historic move” towards the goal of optimal healthcare.

The program seeks to assist in relieving the burdens of young mothers and mothers-to-be who encounter difficulty in financing critical healthcare needs for themselves or their children.

Speaking at the launch of the insurance program on Monday morning at the Fort Young Hotel, Darroux said that in the past, the idea of  implementing this program, managed by the Dominica Social Security (DSS), had been a “futile illusion,” but now the government’s move towards making this plan a reality is a “bold” step. 

“Your government has now taken the bold and grateful decision to implement a Pilot National Health Insurance targeting, in the first instance, single mothers with children. Indeed a very historic move worthy of a round of applause,” he said.

According to Darroux, under the program, the mothers below the age of thirty-five who are pregnant or have children of three years  or younger must be resident or living permanently in Dominica to be able to claim under the program. This applies to both nationals and non-nationals.

A Multi-Purpose Identification Card (MPID) will be used as the form of identification for persons who wish to claim under the program.

The benefits of the insurance package include private sector services that are not provided by the government. This excludes services provided at the primary healthcare levels as, according to Darroux, these services are already free of charge.

The package also includes coverage for services that are not available locally where beneficiaries may have to travel abroad to receive medical assistance.

The National Health Insurance will pay up to eighty percent of the medical invoices/bills, and the remaining twenty percent will be met by the beneficiaries.

If the claimant is unable to pay, the amount will be given as a loan and a payment plan will be arranged between the claimant and the DSS.

Payments will be made directly to the medical facility from both the DSS and the beneficiaries so as to ensure that the monies are spent as intended.

Darroux described the insurance program as a “health financing mechanism and policy tool” geared towards achieving the health policy goals of the Dominican government.

“It is anticipated that this will serve a dual purpose for improving funding for health services and at the same time improving the quality and access to healthcare for mothers and children,” he added.

He said the program will not only generate increased resources for the health sector but also guarantee health security and accessible services and support as well as social solidarity.

“This is an essential element in guaranteeing the right to health,” the minister remarked.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Director of the DSS, Mrs. Janice Jean-Jacques Thomas, the Ministry for Health and the Ministry of Finance for the implementation of the program which was included in the 2016/2017 National Budget.

A cheque of E.C.$ 5-million sourced from the Citizenship By Investment Program (CBI) was presented by the Minister for Finance, Roosevelt Skerrit, to the Minster for Health who then presented it to Director of the DSS for the funding of the program.

Darroux makes presentation to DSS Director

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38 Comments

  1. damas victor
    April 4, 2017

    Mr. Darroux, the photograph above above is at odds with the story; by the way, may I be informed__are you a medical doctor or one of those from the Punlab?

  2. Look It
    April 4, 2017

    WAIT!!!!! HOLD UP!!!!

    A Few Quick Questions
    1., How sustainable is this so called National Health Insurance?

    2. Will this NHI be permanent; meaning will is still be available in the 2, 3, 4 years?

    3. If it is permanent, after the 5 million DONE… where is the alternative source of funds to feed this programme coming from? WHERE WILL THEY GET MONEY TO CONTINUE IT?????

    Man look passport that have to sell????

  3. Lead Singer
    April 4, 2017

    I don’t know the woman Darroux making presentation to but wow, she looks weighty . I hope she is under 35 and is enrolled in Skerro health plan. Skerro regardless of her age I say find this sister and cover her with insurance and I hope you also put a few thousands in a secret place for her life insurance. She sure looks like a good singer and dancer, to your music

  4. I'M NOT PRIME MISTAKE SCARIT CARRYING A DEAD ASS!!!
    April 3, 2017

    I’ll be blunt and write that this is not a National Health Insurance! Why a ceremony to lunch every programme that they implement :?: Why it can’t just be done administratively and allow whichever ministry and institution to carry on :?: Why are these mature people heading the institutions allow these rogues use them to put on a politricksters show :?: A National Health Insurance is supposed to benefit all nationals of the island and not a selected few! How many women with children suffering from health issues are there and when the money allocated for the programme diminish, where are monies gonna come from :?: Everything these rogues posing as government are doing is just without proper planning!!!

  5. Real Concern
    April 3, 2017

    Kenneth Darroux I want you to stop embellishing the truth to flatter Roosevelt Skerrrit. In which house was SKerrit raised with a FAMILY OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS? the worst is SKerrit himself sits there, exploding in false praise of being called Dr and falsehoods. Skerrit’s aunt was a community health nurse and a great one at that, she also raised him along with her late mother, where were the other health professionals that you speak of in that house? One nurse in a house is hardly a family of health care professionals that is DISHONEST and a slap to anyone raised in such a home. …………..what is the big deal, a LIE IS A GODDAM LIE.. I’m truly fed up listening to SKerrit and his accolytes making stuff up to pad a life not lived. Be who you are SKerrit stop passing lies around, and YOU ARE NOT A DR, enough with the b.s.

  6. Not for sale
    April 3, 2017

    Skeritt\’? All this just because you planning to call elections?You had 18 years to do that, Now you like a crazy man just promising promising ,, Giving money all over, Skeritt/ where is the factories for young people to get jobs? What have you put in place for the youths/ ,You still coming and try to full them with those empty promises?What good thinking dominican can follow you and your corrupt regime which have enriched yourselves and left the poor people with no hope?Any young person shouting LaBOUR now is marked , NO FUTURE, Their future is doomed ,, The young people of this country will teach you a lesson on election day, Which will be very soon

  7. time ticking
    April 3, 2017

    Sounds like “SCARE-IT CARE” TO ME. What will his leg-or-see be?

  8. jamma
    April 3, 2017

    I listen to the minister for health , he said the fund will be responsible for 80% of the claim the insured is responsible for 20%.If the insured cannot pay they will be given a loan.How are you going to pay the loan if you cannot pay in the first place. minister please explain

  9. %
    April 3, 2017

    Darroux instead of speaking in a language the Labourites do not understand, why won,t you be a man, and tell Skerrit to put Dominicans to work?…..Social Security is under strain, the pension age is constantly being increased….For 17 long years you all paradigm for advancing Dominica is the Venezuelas model that has it in an abyss presently….Man people like you should be ashamed for taking unsuspecting Labourites for this long ride into a precipice….Just imagine you all making Labourites clap when Skerrit says he wants to be in office until his son grows older and take over from him… You Understand why I always refer to this DLP gang as a wicked and evil regime. How many people from your constituency have a sustainable job that you have created? YOU ARE A HUGE FAILURE BROTHER!!!!! You are six of one half a dozen of the other..
    SKERRIT MUST GO !!!
    SKERRIT MUST GO !!!!
    SKERRIT MUST GO NOW!!!!

  10. DA/
    April 3, 2017

    I just do not understand this . Why should a critical medical complicated case be limited to a child three and under three years old only. These cases are usually unique among the many illnesses , and this program should have been accessible to all who may experience such .

  11. DA/
    April 3, 2017

    I just do not understand this . Why should a critical medical complication case be limited to a child under three years old . These cases are usually unique among the many illnesses , and should have been accessible to all who may experience such.

  12. sniper position
    April 3, 2017

    As i continue,what was even worse was to hear the other cardinal fool who captions himself as a blessing calling and trying to question the sustainability of the programme. laughable! The usual Louis Robinsons,mike wallaces and others sounded like empty butter cans as usual. The lesson here for the poor and those with little or no means to health care is to see how the likes of matt,randy rodney and other operatives of the of the uwp have attacked their very survival and ability to give health care to their children. People must pay attention to the utterances and deliberations of these men. These are the same people who come to you and ask to be elected to political office. These guys are insensitive. They cannot put one credible idea forward but sit and seek to destroy all the government’s efforts at bringing relief to the population. It must be noted that these uwp and their operatives are bad news for Dominica and Dominicans. Lets keep the country safe with the labour party.

  13. My Dominica
    April 3, 2017

    Firstly, am not a supporter of the prime minister and it’s my first comment on Dno but an everyday reader of dno… when something is good Mr PM I say it. I understand why you would think and implement such insurance and I thinks it’s welcoming. I will just say that I don’t agree with the age range for the mother’s because I know there are mother’s above that age who can’t afford so I would have left the age range open but stick with the one for the child.. Am also curious to know how this insurance will be mentioned so looking forward for further explanation of this policy. But I think it’s a good idea.

    • My Dominica
      April 3, 2017

      Maintained ******

  14. Solomon The preacher
    April 3, 2017

    What exactly is historical Mr Darroux, is it the talk and rush to buy votes Trix or doing something that’s honest in the best interest of Dominica? The Obama care was an election promise of 2008 but he spent his 1st term keeping a national conversation and listening to both sides until Midway through his 2nd term to make it law. Even with all of that it is still being criticized by both sides, with Bill Clinton referring to it as a disaster, months before the last election and to this day, it is only hanging by a string. So for Skerrit to rush into dishing money to buy votes without a sustainable plan is like rushing to build coffee plant, Moroccan hotel, and abattoir without one single plan and no wonder they are all their like skeletons with new dates for work to recommence every year. Skerrit is in serious trouble so he will do anything to play on the ignorance of the people one again. Like the others it looks good on paper but at the moment it’s a disaster in the making.

  15. April 3, 2017

    Anyone who maligns this programme is a fool. This was well planned and will definitely have a great impact.

  16. April 3, 2017

    Indee, it’s a feat worthy of commendation Doc!

  17. April 3, 2017

    The government understands that there are vulnerable people and those who are unable to fully cover medical costs associated with pre-,post-, and general natal care. The program is a pilot program that comes at an ideal time. It is a learning program that will give us an idea of how a national scheme would work. Let us appreciate the work that the government is doing to improve healthcare and the well-being of our people.

  18. Din-din
    April 3, 2017

    Ok lets see the implementation part Mr. Health Minister- you now the devil is in the details. What is the criteria – income level , location??? God forbid it is because one wears red he/she is in and if you wear blue to green you are out. That will not work.

    So before I start clapping I want to see the role out.

    • April 3, 2017

      Having insurance is a good thing but to take peoples health and trick them is the lowest PM have reached, How can one roll out a policy that was never debated in the house or in the public, why is it he cannot do the right thing when possible I listen and came away with it’s a political move that he’s hopping will keep the people away from the CBI head lines and other major stories surrounding the PM and his group, it’s like what is happening in the USA and it will not work.
      Another question if their are no contribution to this so call insurance how is it going to work and when the money he is putting in finish what happens next. This was never well thought out before mentioning it, the people of Dominica are one the move they are taking back their lives and Island.

  19. Wesley
    April 3, 2017

    so me dat working hard have to pay for my child insurance and others can just sit back and relax and all is well. what happens to a 36 year old mother with a 3 yr old sick child? well thank God for Mat in the morning!

    • April 3, 2017

      The child is sick and is 3 years old he or she will be covered. The mother is not sick, so what’s your point?

    • On this one I cannot shoot you down, because I see you have sense to see through Skerrit crap. Look that garbage he is talking makes nonsense, he concentrates on an age group which may never require help.

      Skerrit is so stupid, he is talking about complications in three year old. He does not know the meaning of medical complication. In medicine when we are talking about medical complications. We are talking about an added difficulty; a complex state.

      A disease or accident superimposed upon another without being specifically related, yet affecting, or modifying the prognosis of the original disease i.e., let’s say pneumonia is a complication of measles, and is the cause of many deaths from that disease.

      These guys just talk nonsense to impress people; I challenge Darroux to deny my explanation, of medical complications if he is a doctor and not a quack! This thing is joke, a gimmick to make a fool of Skerrit’s worshipers to run out and vote for him! How the hell you have a…

    • Finally:

      How the hell you have a program serving three year old who are seldom sick, and half of the nation need medical attention out of the country, since our medical professional are unable to treat certain diseases; are they supposed to die because they are over three years old.

      Someone with diabetes will develop complications such as heart, eye, kidney complications, some suffering from hypertension will suffer the same complications. If we do not have any competent specialists to treat such complications people will die without help because they are not three years old?

  20. sniper position
    April 3, 2017

    So i took some time to listen to the uwp,q95 talk on the block today the 3rd of april. Now i don’t usually listen to these guys because i believe it’s bad fro ones health to constantly take in toxic material. The only reason i chose to listen today is because i was really wondering how these national betrayers were going to as usual,criticize the launch of the initial stage of the national health insurance scheme. I don’t have to relitigate the details and benefits of this tremendously well thought of programme. Anyone who is in doubt should go back to listen to the addresses by the pm and the minister but even more touching,the young lady who gave her testimonial about how this programme has saved the vision of her three month old daughter.I always knew that matt was a moron but to have heard the loose and,caareless and calculatedly wicked way this guy started taking shots at the programme in the way he did was pathetic.

    • April 3, 2017

      Matt is a very educated individual and so are all the other person who and have seen thru that motive of the Pm but I will say to you if you don’t have an insurance policy of your own go and sit with an insurance adjuster ask them to explain how does insurance policies work, but for you to say that folks are criticizing the idea is nonsense , insurance is good so why not a policy for everyone why divide the public do you really believe that’s the way to go . What people are talking about is how this was done and the most important question are where is he getting the $ 5 million from is it another CBI promise.
      Before casting shadows study the method, and Q95 and Matt are the only true media that don’t allow PM or DLP forces to dictate their programs,. Next time I would suggest that you view your post before pushing the send button.

  21. Lang Mama
    April 3, 2017

    The audacity of politicians. Darroux said thr Nstional Health zinsurance had be6rn spoken about but it remained a “futile illusion” What the spoon is a ” futile illusion ” The UWP government spoke about a National Health Insurance during a 4 year term. Mr Darroux your government had 17 years do it.

    What the people should know is the financial status of DSS. I know many of us would rsther not deal with reality and truth- it would serve us well to put the money into providing better healthcare for all pregnant women. An insurance program is sustained by premiums. Who is paying the premiums-certainly not the jobless single pregnant women. Everything falls back on the government so why not invest in better heslth services for ALL.
    Lang Mama is no political party puppet so i will call it what it is -gimmick

    • April 3, 2017

      Your comparison that the DLP had 17 years to do this shows that you are a political party puppet. However in the absence knowing how the fund will be replenished or the legislative guide lines, I will say for now that it is a gimmick.

      • Lang Mama
        April 3, 2017

        Anon just because I spoke the truth I am political? UWP had 4 years to ft o and DLP had 17. I was marely pointing out the hypocrisy and the hubris coming from Darroux.

  22. Delbert
    April 3, 2017

    The time will come when Dominica will ask herself the penultimate question: Why didn’t we handle these scare resources wisely?????
    Time will tell.

    • The Darkness
      April 3, 2017

      Stop talking about it and do something yourself!!

  23. JUST ASKING
    April 3, 2017

    how we can call that a national health insurance and is only pregnant women and children up to 3 years…. what is the policy and how can this sustain itself, do they have to pay… I thought national would mean every Dominican…

    OR

    is it because of those CBI monies that were hidden in banks have to be spent because lennox spoke to CBS… are we hiding or trying to legitimize monfrad monies or Alison m. monies.. what was in those suitcases on that trip to st marten?.

    this sounds like putting the chart before the horse

  24. April 3, 2017

    Is there legislation in place for this program?

    • April 3, 2017

      None, and remember he said no law no constitution can stop him so he just does whatever he want.

    • The Thinker
      April 3, 2017

      When did PARLIAMENT LAST MEET ? for debate on all these VILLAGE handouts ?Democracy?

  25. viewsexpressed
    April 3, 2017

    Skerrit and his corrupt Labour government are fakes and again to regain lost credibility from their fake passport scam they are now coming up introducing a corrupt scheme again targeted at most vulnerable people and using a reputable government agency to implement their fraudulent activity Why? Well just to gain lost trust due to the passport scams that they are unable to account for. If it was not for Hon Linton and the credible UWP Team Dominicans would have no idea how fraudulent this Corrupt Labour Government is under inept Skerrit. Every time this man opens his mouth it is fake news on us. We do not trust you Skerrit, your government is corrupt. We need decent jobs not fake money.
    This government is functioning like mafia mobsters. Dominicans, I urge you to despise and resent this corrupt Labour government. They are dangerous and clueless to what development is. They are buying and using you because they know you are in need. They have questions to answer of their corrupt deeds.

  26. Doc. Love
    April 3, 2017

    It appears Skeritt is thinking of general elections, which one will come first, Christmas or carnival or Dimitry first child.

    • Bro
      April 3, 2017

      But skerrit doe have an older son? Mr should have a first child soon, maybe that’ll come first :mrgreen:

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