THAT IS NOT MY PROBLEM!
March 4, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
We have to stop this habit of manufacturing controversy where none exists. We have to stop allowing politics and the need to score political points to cloud our judgment and force us into irrational arguments.
The people of this country have important things to do. They do not have time to waste with the nonsense that is being peddled by the Stabroek News and the opposition parties about the medical benefits of government officials and high functionaries.
The people are sensible to understand what abuse is and what it is not. They are also smart enough to know what vanity is and what it is not. Without information as to the medical procedures involved, no one is in position to judge which dental work is vanity and which is not.
If I am entitled by virtue of my occupation to certain medical benefits, then I should be free to source these benefits. I should not have to consider what others are enjoying. I have earned those benefits and they are due to me.
I should not have to worry what people would say because most persons do not enjoy such benefits. That is not my concern.
If I am a Minister and my employment contract, whether oral or written, says that I am entitled to medical benefits, including dental benefits, then so long as whatever procedure I desire is covered by my health plan, then I should be free to go ahead and utilize my medical coverage. I should not be concerned by the cost. That is not my problem. That is the person who gives me the benefits problem.
Sorry folks! But if I have a benefit that says that if I have a missing front tooth than I can do an implant, I will do it. I am not going to be bothered by the fact that the majority of people in Guyana do not enjoy such a benefit or cannot afford tooth implants.
The vast majority of people in Guyana do not hold the position of a Minister of the government or high public office, and therefore they cannot be entitled to certain medical benefits. If the benefit is legal and is in my contract, I am going to utilize it. I would be a fool not to!
There are those who will feel that the procedure that I have opted for is too expensive. That is not my problem! There are those who will feel that instead of doing the implant I should go to Anand by the Harbour Bridge and have him make dentures. It is not my problem how all those people feel. I am entitled to an implant; that is a benefit that is accorded to me and I will utilize it regardless of how people feel.
I am sure that those same persons who are complaining about me utilizing my entitlement would have done the same if they were in my shoes. So, I am not bothered by what anybody says or the description of my procedure as vanity. Vanity is a relative term. I am not worried about it at all!
The government offers assistance to persons with medical bills. This assistance is not the same as an entitlement. You cannot take this assistance that is offered to persons who cannot meet the full extent of their medical bills and compare it with what the government has to spend to meet its contractual obligations to its ministers. One is assistance and one is an entitlement.
Nor should you do a straight comparison between what is paid to government ministers and what is paid to others seeking assistance. Many of those seeking assistance are working people. They are already entitled to 80% of their medical expenses being covered by the NIS. But since they may not be able to afford the other 20%, they go and ask the government for help.
To therefore say that the government gave X dollars to five hundred persons but X plus dollars to a few ministers is disingenuous, because the former does not account for the expense that is already borne by the NIS. So I do not buy the argument that is being made.
We have to decide if Ministers and the Leader of the Opposition are entitled to full medical coverage. If they are, then they must be provided such coverage.
I do not think it would be right if after giving me a benefit of full medical coverage, you should turn around and say, “We will cover all your medical bills, except if you get cancer, because the opposition parties will claim that is too expensive.”
If you’re covering me, then cover me fully! But don’t tell me that you are covering me fully but I must not get sick with cancer or undergo a triple bypass. It cannot work this way at all. It is either full coverage or keep your job!