National health insurance the “long-term plan”

(CNS Business): While calling the implementation of a national health insurance scheme a “long-term plan,” Minister of Health Mark Scotland nevertheless has said Cayman first needed to get “healthy” to ensure the system would be financially viable. At the same time, though two former ministers of health lambasted the private insurance industry, they disagreed on the efficacy of a national plan. Scotland warned that even if a national insurance plan were implemented, this would not lead to instantaneous savings, saying that unless the nation became fitter, healthy people would end up paying for the unhealthy. Health ministry chief officer Jennifer Ahearn explained that with any universal health care access, the high utilization of insurance benefits drives up the costs. Read more on CNS Business