–Dr Singh tells NIS, following complaints of difficulties encountered by some patients after receiving $600,000 grant

SENIOR Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, has instructed the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to ensure that all dialysis patients receive their entitled benefits.

The minister’s intervention follows several complaints of persons encountering difficulties in accessing their benefits after securing the $600,000 grant offered by the government to dialysis patients.

Dr Singh affirmed that the grant is additional support, and should, at no time, be used as a basis for persons being denied their legitimate benefits from the institution.
“In Budget 2022, one of the several measures that we announced was the introduction of a $600,000 grant to persons receiving dialysis treatment. This grant was in response to government’s recognition of the severe challenges being faced by persons undergoing dialysis treatment and the tremendous costs associated with that treatment, not just the dialysis treatment and the associated medication, but other expenditure associated with accessing that treatment,” Dr. Singh recalled following the meeting with the NIS.

The minister then expressed his disappointment that dialysis patients were experiencing difficulties when it should not have been the case.

“Oftentimes, patients would require dialysis treatment twice, sometimes thrice a week etc. and so recognising this, we introduced this dialysis support programme under which every single person receiving dialysis on a regular basis will get a grant of $600,000.

“Having introduced the measure in Budget 2022, it came to my notice recently that a number of persons have been having some difficulties, particularly in their interactions with the National Insurance Scheme in relation to dialysis treatment. The issue that has been raised with me is that since the introduction of the $600,000 grant by government to dialysis patients, some persons have been unable to access their dialysis reimbursements from the NIS,” Dr. Singh said.

He related that during the meeting with NIS’s management on the matter, he provided clear instructions that the NIS discontinue this forthwith.

The senior minister described the situation as perverse, noting that it was never the government’s intention.

“I made it crystal clear that government’s $600,000 grant to dialysis patients is intended to be an additional support to dialysis patients and was never intended to result in patients being denied their NIS benefits. Apparently, what has been happening is that in some cases patients are being told that until they have utilised the $600,000, they are not being reimbursed their dialysis benefits.

“The intention was always to provide additional support and not to provide support -this grant- and then to take it away through another institution of the state. And so I made this very clear to the senior management of NIS that the $600,000 grant provided by government for dialysis treatment is additional to whatever was being enjoyed by persons who have paid their NIS over the years and who are entitled to some degree of NIS support,” Dr Singh related.

He added that persons who have been contributing to NIS over the years should not be penalised.

Dr Singh urged any person who is still encountering such issues to contact the Ministry of Finance, where staff are available to deal with the issue.

The government, he said, continues to work aggressively to improve the quality of services delivered by state institutions such as the National Insurance Scheme.