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(CNS): The Health Insurance Premium Payment Assistance Programme, the freeze on private pension payments and the tourism stipend programme are all due to come to an end this month. Government has not yet confirmed that employees and workers must start paying into pension funds again next month or what will happen to tourism stipend recipients who have not been rehired or who are working fewer hours than they were before the pandemic. However, the CIG has confirmed that the money paid out to help pay health insurance cover will stop on 20 June.
Premier Wayne Panton has said that government may take another look at the pension freeze, but he has also raised concerns about the impact of the mass withdrawal of funds in 2020 during the country’s lockdown and the two-year pause on mandatory payments into funds. It is not clear if stopping stipend payments will also be reconsidered for some tourism workers since the sector has said it is currently looking at a bleak summer.
However, the health ministry has confirmed the end of health insurance assistance, which was extended in March to give people time to prepare. Ministry officials said 878 people were helped each month to pay their health insurance premiums through the programme, which has cost the public purse over CI$1,170,000
“As this programme culminates, I am grateful that the majority of persons who received aid from us have been able to have their healthcare coverage reinstated due to returning to work,” Health and Wellness Minister Sabrina Turner said, as she thanked the Health Insurance Commission.
Those who still require cover have been directed to use other public resources, such as the Needs Assessment Unit’s indigent insurance programme, officials said. Programme participants have already been notified of the end date.
For more information, contact the Health Insurance Commission
by email at hic@gov.ky or call 946-2084.
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