PHILIPSBURG–Representatives of the Consumer Coalition met with Health Minister Emil Lee on Friday on the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) tariff increase that went into effect on January 1.
The meeting was intended to address the Coalition’s concerns on the 41.8 per cent tariff hike and the quality of the services offered by the medical facility.
The Coalition said Lee had informed them that SMMC’s precarious financial situation has had his attention since he became Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA.
SMMC’s deficits were increasing annually and the annual cost of health care also was going up each year. To guarantee financial stability for SMMC so that salaries could be paid, necessary medical supplies could be purchased and bankruptcy could be avoided, Lee said he had approved for Social and Health Insurances SZV to provide SMMC with budget financing from the ZV fund.
Pre-financing the services for ZV patients was the way to facilitate SMMC’s day-to-day financial obligations, the Coalition said in reporting what Lee had told it. The Minister had not signed a national decree for new social health care tariffs at SMMC.
Private health insurance companies do not have a regulated tariff by law and SMMC is within its right as a healthcare provider to negotiate the rates with private insurance companies, the Coalition said in its release.
Addressing the Consumer Coalition’s concern about the services offered by SMMC and the quality of these services, Lee said three things have been given priority.
He said he has been negotiating for financing for the construction of a new hospital. He has also requested that SMMC guarantee that its staff and personnel will be able to provide a higher quality of care and services by getting Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited within the same time frame as it will take the new hospital to be built.
To realise more equal treatment for all, Lee said he has given priority to the process of developing a National Health Insurance (NHI) to guarantee that residents could be covered for a basic package of health care.
Consumer Coalition representatives Alberto Bute, Raymond Jessurun, Claire Elshot and office manager Carl Duinkerk expressed concern about the general increase in premiums foreseen with the introduction of the NHI. The increase in tariffs at SMMC is also of concern, as this can also lead to an increase of insurance premiums.
“The Consumer Coalition is therefore happy with the dialogue started with management of the Medical Center to keep the premiums for the insured affordable and to look for other financing to cover the cost of quality services at the Medical Center,” it was stated in the release.
Because of time constraints a list of questions was left, which the minister promised to answer. “The meeting was held in his capacity as caretaker minister, but the Minister promised to continue to be transparent after he will be officially sworn in as Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour in the new Council of Ministers,” said the Coalition.
The Consumer Coalition coordinators will await the answers to their questions to have a follow-up meeting with the Minister.
“This week we will have a meeting with a mixed committee of representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour and the Social and Health Insurances to get more details on the tripartite agreement between VSA, SZV and SMMC on the tariff increase of the SMMC,” they said.
The Coalition said it wants to make sure that in the process to establish a national decree to change SMMC’s tariffs the effects on the premiums of the consumers will be minimised by looking for alternative financing for the necessary increase of health care cost.
“The Consumer Coalition is extra-watchful especially in a low time like this, after Irma and Maria, with loss of income, roofs, social security, etc., of many consumers who we represent. We cannot permit to sacrifice them once more in the process, especially not in an election year,” it said.
Meetings were requested with private insurance companies and the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI), but meeting dates have not yet been set.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/72739-consumer-coalition-no-national-decree-for-new-tariffs-at-hospital
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