'NHI aims to pay for Govt's Peebles Hospital mistakes'– Alred C. Frett
In an interview on Wednesday January 6, 2016, Frett told this news site that while his health institution is doing its part to ensure that they work along with the new scheme, there are still teething problems.
“Essentially we started accepting NHI patients from the very get go on the first day of the year as we open seven days a week. So we have been dealing with them and serving them. We understand that it is going to take a little while for the patients themselves to understand what is actually being offered, because they are probably being told one thing, hearing another and looking for the best world for them.”
“What we have to tell them is as far as we know the conditions where we will see them, there is a fee schedule that we work with presently and bring them aware as to what it is. Some persons don’t know about it and they are surprised to know that there is the co-payment and there may be things outside of the fee schedule that have to be addressed. But outside of that we are working with them,” he said.
Teething problems
According to Mr Frett, it is understandable that there will be teething problems as a result of the new system. “It is no secret that I have my reservations about the NHI. But I think that it is important to give them a fair chance so that when things come up we could bring solutions and not just problems.”
He said B&F Medical has been using both the NHI website as well as the hard forms to service the patients. “Maybe in our instance we are trying extremely hard to make it work. We are probably doing it more than the norm and when we have a problem and we call the NHI they have been quite responsive,” he said.
According to Frett, the NHI was making it difficult for providers in terms of getting them ready for the compulsory scheme, but he said that this had been sorted out. “So now all persons need to do is to show that they are registered in their profession. The long drawn out process is gone,” Mr Frett noted.
'Patients should not be short-changed'
Another concern for Mr Frett was the high cost to both the patient and the employer for NHI. He said it has to be affordable in order to be sustainable. "If it will be so costly that persons can’t afford it, you create a problem right away and you are going to entice persons to probably use the card even more than they normally would.”
Frett believes that if the government is forcing citizens and residents to take something then they should at least guarantee the basics of that they need and they ought not to take it at risk to themselves. “They ought not to have to drop their previous provider to take on yours which falls short,” he said.
Frett said that at the end of the day it must be the patient who is not short-changed. “That I am concerned about because if they have to take out supplementary insurances or they have to end up paying so much more because they are not covered by the NHI, then to me that isn’t serving the purpose for them.”
He alleged that Government is using NHI to pay for its “mistakes” with the Peebles Hospital but at the same time the burden should not be borne on the backs of the ordinary citizens and residents.
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18 Responses to “'NHI aims to pay for Govt's Peebles Hospital mistakes'– Alred C. Frett”
1 get your teeth done
2 physical
3 eye examination
And the list goes on , why hmmm
Its a plan to grab
Thefore we taking back all the devil has stolen from us people
me son every 2 months go doctor and take a fix up
t
da wa u get for force us.
The Government worked out the public could be tricked into paying this $46 Million with a new tax called NHI. They now have $46 Million a year towards an airport.
A project that will balloon from $400 Million to $800 Million, maybe a $Billion of our money to share with friends. Nice. If you are one of their friends.