Part
01
of one
Part
01
Personal Medical Insurance Bahamas
For a citizen of the Bahamas, health insurance for primary care is provided for free through the popular and easily accessible National Health Insurance program and can be supplemented through a variety of private options. Customer reviews on private insurance in the Bahamas are very limited, and guides for expats do little to differentiate private insurance companies.
NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE
- For citizens, the National Health Insurance (NHI) provides free primary care.
- The national insurance program has high customer satisfaction and support for continued expansion, as expressed by the results of multiple surveys. In a patient satisfaction survey in 2018, 57.64% were "very satisfied" with their NIH healthcare experience, and 38.07% were "satisfied." When asked about the quality of the service, 57.96% rated the quality as "very good," and 38.48% said the quality of the service was "good."
- Eighty-seven percent of the citizens of Bahamas support the expansion of the National Health Insurance. The expansion is going to include high-cost medical procedures.
- Screenings and procedures for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and sexually transmitted diseases are covered by the NIH primary care benefits. Sandra Rolle, a cancer survivor, hails the critical role of the National Health Insurance program in detecting her breast cancer early. She said, "It could help save many more lives. NHI Bahamas means a brighter future for my daughter and granddaughter because they will be able to have their screenings done free of charge."
- A progressive tax will fund the expansion of the NHI.
PRIVATE HEALTHCARE OPTIONS
- Seventy percent of Bahamians do not have private health insurance.
- Bahama Health is the health insurance division of a local insurance company Family Guardian under the umbrella of a bigger company FamGuard.
- Atlantic Medical Insurance is owned by Colonial Group International and provides health insurance to citizens of the Bahamas.
- Cigna and Aetna are large health insurance companies with international divisions, which include the Bahamas.
- First Care Medical Plan is a new health insurance company based in the Bahamas.
- Pacific Prime also provides private health insurance in the Bahamas.
RESEARCH STRATEGY
For a local person, we found that the National Health Insurance, while public, is an excellent option of health insurance in the Bahamas. As this program expands, it is expected that more locals will take advantage of this national health insurance. We also found that private health care is too expensive for the vast majority of the local people, and available information on private insurance is targeted at expats. Thus, we focused our findings on National Health Insurance.