Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:00 AM
CHI Cardiologist sheds light on funding options for patients
The lack of finances does not mean an automatic exemption from having to pay, at times, for health care provided outside of the public health sector.
Sources of financing come as a major relief to some people who are financially challenged. Such avenues to cater to health care could be through the likes of insurance companies, be it the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) or privately operated entities.
Speaking recently of the several layers of financial options available to patients, was Medical Director and Resident Cardiologist of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), Dr. Mahendra Carpen. Dr. Carpen offers his expert cardiac services at the privately operated CHI which is situated in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and represents a public/private partnership.
Although accessing the cardiac services at CHI comes at a cost to patients, he noted that financial assistance can be gained at the various insurance avenues for this purpose. But according to Dr. Carpen, while there is a fair amount of people who have access to private insurance, NIS, or both, “the majority of patients we see tend to want to pay out of their pockets.”
“This is kind of revealing…patients who have insurance don’t really like to use that option. They would rather pay out of their pockets and I am sure the insurance companies like that. But it is a little strange to know that patients have coverage but they don’t take advantage of it,” said Dr. Carpen.
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
This state of affairs, he speculated, might very well be as a result of a lack of awareness of the available benefits.
The Cardiologist said, though, that he has dealt with a number of patients who have successfully benefited from the support of insurance companies. In fact, the patient who underwent an inaugural implantable loop procedure at CHI last week, was the beneficiary of support from NIS, a process that Dr. Carpen said went quite smoothly.
But then there are some patients that don’t even have access to insurance. These patients could however be eligible for financial support from the Ministry of Health. The Cardiologist explained that “what we do in those instances we actually write on behalf of the patients to the Ministry of Health through the office of the Medical Director, and that goes to the relevant department of the Ministry.”
Once in receipt of that correspondent the request is assessed and a decision is made on whether or not patients are eligible for assistance and the amount that would be forthcoming. And this level of support has been ongoing since the introduction of CHI in 2006 save and except for a period when the Ministry’s fund intended to support needy patients had reportedly dried up.
Despite a change in Government earlier this year the support has been sustained, according to Dr. Carpen. “We have been having a fairly good relationship with the Ministry of Public Health as far as patient funding is concerned.”
As part of the continued collaboration with CHI and the Ministry, Dr. Carpen disclosed that “we are in the process of finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to guide operations.”
This publication understands that one of the key points in the pending MOU is that “we have to be able to treat the patients in the GPHC, in the public sector, who have an emergency need for the services we provide.”
“A lot of what we do are life saving and life changing procedures, and are completely unacceptable that patients are denied timely care because of their social or financial situation,” said Dr. Carpen.
He said that the cost for the services offered is of importance since the cost recovery mechanism is important.
Cost recovery, he noted, is essential to the extent that it is necessary to keep CHI operational and for it to grow and expand at an appropriate pace.
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