ALTHOUGH in recent years, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has undergone some remarkable and positive changes in its officers, the poor quality of varying services offered there remains an underlying issue which needs to be addressed concerning medical benefits.
Dr Roger Luncheon who has been a truly dedicated and hardworking Chairman of the Board has done much to improve the quality offered to the pensioners must be commended for his effort, especially in the area of awareness. However, one major problem which remains unresolved is the proper record-keeping and administration of the NIS.
Frustrated pensioners, the sick, and the disabled have to wait over a year to receive their medical claims and sometimes being ‘barked at by officers who seem to ignore the fact that you depend on that money to buy your medical supplies.
The actions of those employed to work and oversee the payment to pensioners at NIS defeat the entire purpose of this unit which was designed to give prompt payment. It just takes basic commonsense to administer this section since it can delay urgent payment for too long. In the past, I have made numerous complaints about this section. Yet little seem to have been done to help the plight of the poor people who invariably flock the NIS office at Anna Regina everyday for their claims.
If the officers are unhappy with their meagre salaries, then they should vent their frustrations on those responsible for their plight and not the poor and disabled.
Why can’t the NIS work in an organised manner with first come first served in claims? It makes you feel so undignified when you have to beg for your own money. Most of these officers feel as if they are doing you a favour by processing your claims. Little do they realise that it is our NIS contributions money which go into paying them their salaries.