At the launch of the NHIP Green Paper (2019), the Minister of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr Christopher Tufton, addressed the question of whether long-term care services were being considered as a benefit under the national health insurance scheme. While the finalisation of particular services that will be covered by this scheme are yet to be determined following upcoming stakeholder consultations and may include not only long-term care facilities, but also services to support in-home care, Minister Tufton noted that the public health system is currently piloting a private-public partnership with private care homes for a residual system to address ‘social cases’ of persons who are abandoned at public hospitals by family members.

Later in 2019, this partnership was further elaborated on with the announcement of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ decision to pursue legal action against families of the approximately 200 persons currently in hospital beds across Jamaica who should in fact be in an infirmary or released to their relatives, but their relatives have abandoned them, in some cases for as long as seven years. It is hoped that such court action will compel relatives to ‘take care of their own’ (Jamaica Gleaner, 2010). This challenge indicates the consequences of a lack of a public long-term care system in Jamaica that can adequately meet the needs of older persons.

References:

The Jamaica Gleaner. (2010, November 10). Want to be caregiver | Lead Stories |. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20101109/lead/lead93.html