By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE, Guardian Senior Reporter, kdl@nasguard.com

A hitch in the contract regarding the start-up date for health insurance for nurses, may prevent the health scheme from taking effect this fiscal year. However, Health Minister. Dr. Hubert Minnis said the parties involved are working feverishly to resolve the problem.

Last month, Bahamas Nurses Association president Cleola Hamilton revealed that group coverage for nurses was to become a reality as a result of the 2008-09 budget.

"According to the industrial agreement signed by the Ministry of Health, the Public Hospitals Authority and the BNU, this budgetary year, 2008-09, is the year for the implementation of the group health insurance for which nurses have long awaited," Hamilton said.

The 2,100 nurses, who work under the Public Hospitals Authority and the Ministry of Health, were expected to be covered under the scheme.

But yesterday, Minnis told The Nassau Guardian that upon viewing the contract it was noted that there were conflicting dates regarding the commencement of the health scheme.

"When I looked at the contract there were two conflicting clauses which stated that their insurance should come into effect no later than 1 July, 2009, and then there was another clause saying the insurance should come into effect in the 2008-2009 budget year.

"I have asked the hospital authority to discuss the matter with the nurses association, so that we could resolve that, because obviously it has been promised and it has to be resolved," Minnis said via a brief interview.

He added that it is his opinion that the human element must come first.

"Even if I had monies, as far as I'm concerned for construction, the nurses issue should be resolved because you cannot have any new building if you have unhappy staff. If the staff is not happy, then performance is down and I think staff should come first and foremost before anything else," he stressed.

And while Minnis could not say exactly when the insurance scheme will kick in because of this issue, Hamilton said she was not holding any talks with the PHA.

She revealed that during the last meeting she had with Veda Brown, Chairperson of Public Hospitals Authority (PHA), she was informed that the scheme was coming into affect this fiscal year.

"What I am getting from this is that they did not put it in this budget and they are trying to come up with an excuse," Hamilton said.

She warned that if the government reneges on this, dire consequences will result. "This will cause havoc and I will let my members know what is going on."

According to Hamilton, over the years nurses have had to secure private insurance, which has been a "strain" on their finances, coupled with the fact that in many instances the premiums were assessed at a higher rate because of the risk involved with their jobs.

The union was part of a committee of 10 people who reviewed and submitted the proposal to the PHA, immediately following the signing of the industrial agreement in 2005.