The Government of the Virgin Islands in a recent tender notice is inviting proposals from any Virgin Islands Licensed Insurance Company for a Group Health Insurance Plan to provide comprehensive coverage for all House of Assembly members for a period of 5 years with an option to renew annually.
This means that all sitting members of the House of Assemble of the Virgin Islands will have access to comprehensive private health insurance outside of the National Health Insurance Plan known as NHI.
The terms of the proposed plans provided to Health Insurance providers wishing to be a part of the tendering process includes a list of some 41 areas that cover comprehensive medical scenarios from Coverage of Pre-Existing Conditions, Major Medical Insurance, World Wide 24 hours a day coverage, to Cosmetic Surgery (in the event of an accident) and much more.
Tenderers are encouraged to elaborate thoroughly on their Preferred Provider Network coverage to include International Care in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Caribbean, South America, United States of the Virgin Islands, United States of America, British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Additionally, tenderers are required to furnish a number of original or notarized copies of the documents showing good standing.
A virtual pre-tender meeting via WebEx is scheduled for Wednesday, 9th June, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. All prospective tenderers will be notified of the access code and password prior to the meeting. All prospective tenderers are invited to attend.
The National Health Insurance scheme (NHI) is a form of national health insurance established by the Government of the British Virgin Islands through the Ministry of Health, with a goal to provide access to and financial coverage for health care services to all British Virgin Islands residents. A National Health Insurance scheme was first considered in 2006, but it took over a decade to come to fruition. It eventually came into effect on 1 January 2016.
When the national health insurance scheme came into effect in 2016, residents of the Virgin Islands were forced to be limited to the NHI as it is mandatory with many exiting their private health insurance agreements that were mostly offered through employment, as employers no longer saw the need.
NHI provided an opportunity for many residents who did not have insurance or could not ordinarily afford insurance to have access to insurance coverage.
The cost of the proposed health insurance coverage for all House of Assembly members is not yet known, but does the move to secure private health insurance for all House of Assembly members show the Governments lack of confidence in the National Health Insurance? Why are residents of the Virgin Islands forced to use a National Health Insurance which in many cases limits coverage, while legislators receive comprehensive health coverage?
More to come as the story develops.