Director of the Social Security Board, Lorie Freeman, and Medical Director of the National Health Insurance (NHI), Dr. Donmick Frazer, are urging members of the public to remain compliant by contributing to the NHI, stressing that participation is key to securing long-term health benefits.
The call was made on Wednesday during the Health Fair and Expo, held as part of activities marking the NHI’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
Freeman made a special appeal to self-employed individuals, encouraging them not to exclude themselves from the system.
Director of the Social Security Board, Lorie Freeman, and Medical Director of the National Health Insurance (NHI), Dr. Donmick Frazer, are urging members of the public to remain compliant by contributing to the NHI, stressing that participation is key to securing long-term health benefits.
The call was made on Wednesday during the Health Fair and Expo, held as part of activities marking the NHI’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
Freeman made a special appeal to self-employed individuals, encouraging them not to exclude themselves from the system.
“Compliance is absolutely necessary in terms of health care financing and like I said yesterday at the opening ceremony, we need the corporation of everyone. The success of NHI everyone of us has a role to play it might mean just checking in on your contributions. If anything, I should say the self-employed component of the BVI and the small business they can be considered the lifeline of any society because they offer essential services and products I wanna ensure that they do not count themselves out in terms of having healthcare access,” she pleaded.
Dr. Frazer echoed the importance of compliance, noting that the sustainability of the NHI depends on collective participation. He highlighted the progress made over the past decade in expanding healthcare access and improving medical services for contributors.
“We want to expand our provider network also we are looking to expand the coverage but to increase the coverage we also need people to do their contributions faithfully these are the ways we can expand because like any other insurance we can’t offer ever single thing but once we have those contributions it adds to our sustainability adding to that extra coverage we would need. It is impossible to cover every single thing but we are looking at different areas this is why we are analysing the data seeing how we can assist out beneficiaries even better,” he explained.
The NHI is celebrating its 10th anniversary throughout the week with a series of activities aimed at public education and engagement. Following the Health Fair and Expo, the next major event on the calendar is a symposium on Friday, December 9 and a health walk on Saturday, December 10.
Officials say the anniversary celebrations also serve as an opportunity to remind the public of the shared responsibility in maintaining a strong and effective national health system.