Inspector Dwight Smith along with other members of the Police Staff Association held a press conference on East Bay Street near Common Wealth Bank last week Friday, in reference to National Health Insurance (NHI) and officers that put their lives on the line on a daily basis.
They spoke with security forces in regards to National Health Insurance (NHI) and came up with a letter to address the Rt. Honorable Perry Christie but unfortunately they have not received any information from the government as yet.
“They thought it was a grave insult, in just to the security force to go about to introduce a new insurance and actually not sit down with them and say what this insurance is all about and how is it going to be delivered?’ What is going to be the benefits? Is it going to be the same or are we going to make better benefits in what we have already put in the proposal?” said Smith.
He claims that the officers are expected to live off of $1,500 whereas about $800 goes to health insurance. There is basically nothing left for the individuals to keep for themselves. They must thrive on a daily bases in order to stay afloat.
He also questions the fact that the individuals are to sustain themselves with no pay increase. He goes on to express the difficulties of certain individuals and the hardships they face. The main thing he wonders is when will their voices be heard? All of their hard work, long hours on the job every-day/night.
He also states that majority of the officers have ceased their health insurance due to such high expenses. It is a scary thought to think that one has to pay an unbelieve amount of money in order to keep themselves safe in the long run.
“Health Insurance is what keeps them alive and keeps them going, to know that if something would happen to them they wouldn’t have to be looking for the full expense,” said Smith
These are a few reasons why the police officers explain their frustration because they feel as though no one is listening.
He also explains that changes cannot be made to the (NHI) without a proper explanation to the Security forces. He then raises questions that involves this new Insurance plan.
He claims that the security force thought that they got insulted because they were not informed of all the new changes. He continues by saying that it is considered unfair to the security forces as a whole. They felt completely disrespected because no one ran the new changes by them so they felt somewhat blind-sided.