SHTA joins protest against
new national health scheme
A St. Maarten delegation will travel to Curaçao to meet representatives of the Curaçao Trade and Industry Association (VBC) on Friday, Van de Bilt said.
The VBC has been voicing strong protests against the AZV, which will make it mandatory for every citizen earning less than NAf. 80,000 to pay a 12.5 per cent premium for a very basic package of health insurance to be handled exclusively by the Social Insurance Bank. It contends that both employer and employee will pay more for less.
The SHTA shares this concern, fearing a deterioration of St. Maarten's investment climate. It is felt that many businesses will not be able to bear this extra burden.
Both the Curaçao and St. Maarten business associations, moreover, strongly disagree with the aspect of centralizing health insurance into the hands of government.
They point out that the policy programme of the Camelia-Römer government promises privatization rather than increasing the influence of government.
Arguments that the AZV will lead to greater efficiency saving some NAf. 24 million per year are met with great skepticism.
Putting all health insurance into the hands of the SVB implies granting that organization a virtual monopoly. Nowhere have such government-granted monopolies ever proven to be efficient, it was pointed out.
Van de Bilt said on Monday there has been no demand in society for this drastic change to a type of scheme which countries that tried it in the 60s and 70s abandoned during the late 80s and 90s because of its inefficiency and high cost factor.
