A National Health Insurance Scheme for Antigua and Barbuda, a project being spearheaded by Health Minister, Sir Molwyn Joseph, will likely become a reality early in 2026.
That’s the timeline announced by Sir Molwyn when he spoke with media representatives this week.
He disclosed that he held a meeting last week with key stakeholders where discussions on the proposed scheme were held. These included persons within the healthcare system as well as representatives from the Medical Benefits Scheme.
“We have set early next year as the time when we hope to achieve placing the legislation before parliament. I personally would love to see the National Health Insurance legislation go to parliament no later than the first quarter of next year,” he remarked.
Sir Molwyn pointed out that there is a process that has to be completed before the legislation goes to parliament including holding consultations with the wider Antigua and Barbuda community.
“These things don’t happen because a minister says so or wish for it to happen; we have to engage the wider society; we have to engage the private sector; we have a very vibrant medical private sector where many of our doctors are operating clinics that are providing services like a hospital and they have to be involved. We have a lot more public education to do on this whole National Health Insurance Scheme,” he explained.
Sir Molwyn says he is optimistic about the outcome as the government already has in place a scheme where it provides funding for medical services overseas in situations where those services are not available locally. This, he added, is a demonstration of the government’s commitment to providing quality health care for residents.
