Health Minister Nickolas Steele said that government is paying a USA-based firm between US$800,000 and US$1.5 million to complete the process for implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme.

The contract with the Miami-based Joint Independent Provider Association (JIPA) came into effect as of 29 October 2019 and builds on the work already started by the University of the West Indies and other stakeholders.

Grenada received US$653,916 from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish the secretariat of the NHI and to undertake initial preparatory work. The decision of government to introduce a National Health Insurance plan is in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

JIPA Network as the private healthcare company is called, is headed by Grenadian-born and USA-trained neurologist, Dr Kester Nedd. He promises that the NHI plan will overhaul the system and sustainably address issues of cost and delivery of healthcare in Grenada.

Grenada’s Minister for Health believes that the contract with JIPA — which did not go through a procurement process according to data on the government’s procurement website — is a necessary step to overcoming many of the challenges that the healthcare system faces.

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