Health insurance payment programme extended
(CNS): The PACT government will continue picking up the tab for the health insurance cover for thousands of Caymanian tourism and hospitality workers until the end of March, given that the return of the tourism industry remains precarious. Those applying for this latest round of the Health Insurance Premium Payment Assistance Programme (PPAP) must do so by Wednesday, 29 December.
From the beginning of May 2021 to date, the health ministry and the Health Insurance Commission have helped almost 8,000 people to cover their health insurance premiums, costing around CI$861,000.
“As everyone is painfully aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented persons and businesses with very challenging and unexpected difficulties,” said Health and Wellness Minister Sabrina Turner. “I am happy we are able to offer this assistance once again to those suffering from job loss in partnership with the Health Insurance Commission (HIC).”
The HIC has consulted with the eight approved insurers to obtain their agreement and willingness to continue offering the programme. Once applications have been vetted and confirmed, the approved insurers will submit their invoices to the Ministry of Health and Wellness via the HIC for coverage to be affected for the successful applicants.
“The Ministry of Health will have 45 calendar days after receipt of the monthly invoices to settle amounts due with each approved insurer,” explained Superintendent of Health Insurance Mervyn Conolly.
Applicants for PPAP must be Caymanian, currently residing in the Cayman Islands and presently unemployed or no longer working full time in the tourism and hospitality industries. They must also provide information on their current or most recent health insurance plan, including the premium rate that was paid for the plan.
Premium payment assistance will be considered to provide coverage to the level of the Standard Health Insurance Contract. Once the applications are verified and approved, the Ministry of Health will then plan for the direct payment of the health insurance premium to the health insurance provider.
Eligible people should email the Health Insurance Commission at hic@gov.ky or call 946-2084 for additional details.
Hard copies of the application are also available at the Health Insurance Commission counter on the ground floor of the Government Administration Building.
The deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday, 29 December 2021 to effect coverage commencing 1 January 2022. All recipients of the assistance must renew their applications on a monthly basis throughout the programme, which ends 30 March 2022.
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Category: Business, Health, Health Insurance, Tourism
Should be free for all.
Government pays itself $550,000,000 a year wages
To 12:27 you are perfectly right,theirs lot of people who’s working full time in construction that is getting it.
Is the stipend program still fully active – i.e. full stipend, half-stipend, what?
I would be happy to pay my own healthcare if someone could tell me where to get 6 months of coverage for just over $100 per month. ($861\8)
The price we pay for having USA based health insurance and USA based nutritional health problems. One industry feeds the other.
As a tourist on island currently May I make a few suggestions that I hope someone will find helpful/ implement.
Upon landing, we were handed a very informative paper re. the LFT testing and the sites. Please inform travelers that you must pre register at all or certain locations! Also, they do not want cash- it is credit card( at least where I did my testing). This would have saved me a couple hours! Also, the hours may be helpful. Thank you. The staff who did the testing were incredibly professional and kind!
Welcome lol
Might as well extend it until March 2023. Tourism is not returning as long as unvaxxed kids are not allowed and as long as there is the possibility of being locked in quarantine for 14+ days if one person in the travelers group positive for Omicron.
Variants will continue and it seems with every variant we face a new panic level across the world.
Just like the stipend, what measures are taken to ensure the “out of work” tourism and hospitality workers are not actually working. The stipend is paid without verification and no doubt this handout will be the same.
Thanks to the pact government for everything that they have done for us in the tourism industry,and still continue to do for us god bless each and every one for their kindness towards us.
I voted your comment up – but why are so many full time tourism jobs still filled by expats? Something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
12:00pm – because most caymanians don’t want to work in tourism jobs. I’m Caymanian btw, before you comment with some ridiculous response.
I am too. And I wanted to work and did work in tourism jobs when I was younger. It was great, and lucrative, and 70% of my co-workers were Caymanian. And we were paid much more than $4.50/hr.
If you don’t know by now your part of the problem. Expats work. Unemployables don’t know how.
Tourism jobs were never popular with Caymanians. Now if you are a former tourism worker you get your monthly stipend from government which is actually higher than the minimum wage you probably got when working. Why on earth would you go back to work in tourism? Especially since government doesn’t seem to care if you have found other employment – you get the stipend either way.
Tourism jobs were wildly popular with Caymanians until expats were brought in at derisory wages.
Tourism workers are rapidly turning into our 21st century seafarers. You get a monthly stipend for having been part of a now diminished part of the economy, simply for having once worked in it. You get it irrespective of whether you now work elsewhere, and government is terrified of removing it fr fear of voter backlash