In response to concerns from some members of the community the Ministry of Health can confirm that the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) has approved 235 applications under the program to assist with continuation of health insurance premiums for persons affected by the COVID-19 crisis. These were broken down as follows:

• April – 100 applications were received. 77 were approved for payment = CI$84,492.13. These covered 559 employees and dependents.
• May – 186 applications were received. 148 were approved for payment of $128, 212.27. These covered 809 employees and dependents.

The Minister of Health Hon Dwayne Seymour remarked, “There has been worry that persons who have applied to the HIC have lost coverage, however, the public should be aware that the HIC has been liaising with the approved insurers to submit their invoices for settlement of the April and May premiums in order to get this finalized quickly.

As of Friday, July 10^th 2020, the Ministry had received invoices from two approved insurers, with the remaining six insurers pending submission. I would like to assure the public that now that the remaining invoices have been received over the past two days, the Ministry will provide a quick turnaround for settlement. We continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our commitment is finalized.”

Addressing the concerns, Mr. Mervyn Conolly, Director of Department of Health Regulatory Services and Superintendent of Health Insurance explained, “ The Hon. Minister announced the program on the 13^th May and at the time it was projected that several hundred applications would have been submitted. The HIC recommended that the notice to stakeholders in regards to April’s submission be extended to the 27^th May to allow more time for the submission of the application”.

Despite this,100 applications were received and processed for the April premium payment assistance covering approximately 559 persons, while 186 applications were received and processed for the month of May covering approximately 809 persons. Now that all invoices have been received we should be able to get caught up fairly quickly.”

Editor’s Note: The health and well-being of Caymanians and residents remains the government’s highest priority. The Ministry of Health through the Health Insurance Commission are committed to not only helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but to also furthering its ‘access to healthcare for all’ approach, through the Health Insurance Premium Payment Assistance Program.

“As everyone is painfully aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented persons and businesses with very challenging and unexpected difficulties; the Cayman Islands being no exception. I am pleased to see the Ministry of Health, through the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) deliver on the vision of Hon Minister Seymour of providing assistance to members of our community with payment of their health insurance premiums during the months of April through June 2020,” said Acting Chief Officer Ms. Nellie Pouchie.

Minister of Health, Honourable Dwayne Seymour, announced the Health Insurance Premiums Payment Assistance Program (PPAP) in May. He explained at that time that the purpose of the program is to assist needy employees with the maintenance of their health insurance coverage. This would be done by subsidizing the payment of their health insurance premium due to the subsequent closure of many businesses, which resulted in many employees losing their jobs or being furloughed.

The HIC in consultation with the approved insurers, offered the opportunity to the public to submit their requests directly to the HIC for consideration. All of the approved insurers had agreed to extend the health insurance coverage to those persons who would be approved by the government (via the application process) for assistance with their health insurance premium payments for the months of April, May and June 2020. The approved insurers therefore agreed to “hold coverage” for persons who had applied to the PPAP.

An application form was created to assist applicants with supplying the required details which in turn were reviewed and evaluated by HIC for consideration. The HIC collaborated with the approved insurers to verify the information provided by applicants. Those that were not approved did not meet all of the criteria set forth by the HIC. All eight approved insurers had clients who took advantage of the opportunity.