Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton
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Dr. Christopher Tufton
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has revealed a 139 per cent escalation in costs at the National Health Fund (NHF), saying the entity will need about $40 billion over the next three years or risk being unable to address the needs of sick Jamaicans.
Dr. Tufton outlined the stark reality while making his contribution to the budget debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
He said the 139 per cent increase in the NHF's costs took place over the last seven years, and expenses are expected to rise a further 30 per cent in the next three years.
Dr. Tufton said Jamaicans who are sick due to lifestyle practices feature prominently in these escalating costs.
In 2020 to 2021, the NHF spent $1.275 billion on hypertension drugs, compared to $940 million over the 2014-2015 period, he revealed.
The organization also spent $1.411 billion on diabetes in 2020-21, compared to $887 million in 2014-2015. This represented a 59 per cent increase.
According to Dr. Tufton, co-payments for individuals have gone up significantly as well, with a 62 per cent increase in costs for persons purchasing drugs to treat high blood pressure.
He said the increase for diabetes medications was 82.6 per cent.
"Rising health costs are not just hitting us as a collective as taxpayers, but it's also hitting us as individual householders, eroding our disposable income. In fact, the economic impact of rising health costs is absolutely devastating and projected to get worse," he warned.
Dr. Tufton said the government will either have to reduce the benefits to the 720,000 NHF beneficiaries, change the funding model or use policy to bring about lifestyle changes to prevent some of the non-communicable diseases.
Restructuring health system
Arguing that the current health financing mechanism is unsustainable, the health minister announced that economist, Dr. Damien King, is to lead national discussions on the current challenges and the implications for economic and social advancement of Jamaicans.
At present, Jamaicans are not required to pay user fees when they visit public health facilities but Dr. Tufton said the time has come to restructure the health system to achieve a more sustainable financing mechanism.
A Ministry Paper is to be unveiled over the next few months on sustainable financing options, which will be a follow-up to the Green Paper on a national health insurance plan, tabled in 2019. That proposal was not pursued due to the onslaught of COVID-19.
Service utilisation down
Dr. Tufton revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in service utilisation as fewer people visited health facilities.
There was a 19 per cent decline in visits to public hospitals last year, compared to 2020.
According to Dr. Tufton, the decline was due to adjustments made to outpatient care to deal with COVID-19 cases.
Surgeries increased in 2021, when compared to the previous year, but the health minister said it was still less than the five-year average.
He disclosed that the government will be engaging with the Jamaican diaspora to help to clear the surgery backlog through a special intervention called Code Care.
The programme seeks to clear 1,000 surgeries over the next 10 months.
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