My thoughts on…free health care in Jamaica
I was reading Jamaican Scientist (a blog I stumbled on while going through my site stats) when I found out that the Bruce Golding led Administration is gonna implement free healthcare on April 1st. Two things came to my mind. This is either a godsend for the Jamaican people or the worst April Fool’s joke ever! Something this momentous you’d expect to hear more of in the Jamaican media. But I just heard of it tonight. Guess they don’t want too much of a rush April 1st.
While I applaud this move, I wonder how our new government will fund it. Health Minister Ruddy Spencer said it would require 1,500 additional nurses, doctors and pharmacists. Wow. That’s a lot of paychecks. Not to mention the additional medical supplies. Accepting handouts to fund this would not help our debt-ridden little island. Still, the government said that they have set aside US$54 million to offset this cost, and Ruddy estimates that the costs won’t exceed US$24 million in the 1st year.
I won’t bash this plan at all, as we Jamaicans tend to underestimate ourselves just ’cause we’re Jamaicans. Look. They said free education for children wasn’t possible, and look at it now! I’m still of the opinion that it was a political gimmick and nothing more. We’re doing this, while America still has its head up its ass concerning healthcare. See, we can actually be better than Uncle Sam.
