House Bill 8-89-7 seeks amendments into the new law by exempting employees whose employers are already providing insurance coverage from the Medical Savings Fund if the insurance provided is accepted at the Belau National Hospital and other medical facilities.
The measure also seeks to exempt employees who are already covered by health insurance.
“It will allow individuals employees who chose to invest in their own health by obtaining insurance to save instead of requiring participation in a system which will not benefit them,” the measure stated.
The new law is comprised of two components, the Medical Savings Fund, made up of individual Medical Savings Accounts. Under the new statute all employed persons in Palau, as well their employers and the self-employed, will pay into the Medical Savings Fund.
The fund will be comprised of individual Medical Savings Accounts, which may be used to cover most medical services, including regular check-ups and outpatient services. The health insurance benefit will complement these accounts, covering higher-cost medical procedures, including those that require inpatient care at Belau National Hospital or medical referrals.
The proposed payment into the fund are the following; for employees: a minimum of 2.5% of their insured earnings; for employers: a minimum of 2.5% their employee’s earnings; and for the self-employed, will pay both the employee’s and the employer’s share, for a total of minimum contribution of 5% of insured earnings.
The health insurance benefit will generally cover inpatient care at the Belau National Hospital and off-island care that is approved by the Medical Referral Committee.The coverage will be subject to a co-payment, which will be the responsibility of the covered patient.The amount of the copayment will be 20 percent of the cost of the medical service, but will be capped based on a sliding scale, to be determined by income.
For general medical services that cap will be from $200 to $400 , and for inpatient care or medical referrals, it will be anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000.
The program will have an initial start up costof $50,000to provide the necessary equipment to efficiently administer the health insurance program.
The new law is supposed to be implemented starting October.
