The Cayman Islands government owed more than $11.7 million to the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company as of last month.
According to figures released under a Freedom of Information request, through 8 December, 2011, the Ministry of Health owed the bulk of the outstanding balance to CINICO – $9.8 million to cover health insurance and administrative costs for care of seafarers, veterans and indigents.
CINICO provides health insurance coverage to more than 13,000 people in Cayman – mostly civil servants, pensioners, indigents, veterans and seafarers, as well as others who have difficulty securing health insurance from private insurers.
The Ministry of Health sent the Caymanian Compass revised figures and said the ministry, as of 31 December, 2011, owed CINICO a total of slightly less than $7.6 million, more than half of which health minister Mark Scotland said was owed since the 2008/2009 financial year.
“As you will see, $4 million relates to ’08/’09 – the year before we took office. A supplementary budget has never been done for that year, but government is planning to do that in the very near future,” Mr. Scotland said.
According to the 31 December, 2011 figures, as well as the $4 million from 2008/2009, the Ministry of Health owed CINICO about $700,000 for the financial year 2010/11 and $2.8 million for the financial year.
The CAYS Foundation, Judicial Administration, Maritime Authority, National Museum, Ministry of Tourism and Public Finance and the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs also owed money to the insurance company, but none of their outstanding balances dated back beyond 2011.
CINICO has not yet released its 2010/2011 annual report, but its 2009/2010 report showed the insurance company made a profit of $3.5 million for that financial year, despite being owed $8.2 million by government for the year.
That was only the second time the government-owned insurance company had made a profit – its first, of $5.8 million, being recorded at the end of the 2008/2009 financial year. Prior to that, the company had annual losses every year since its creation in December 2003.
In its 2009/10 annual report, insurance company officials said they expected to make a loss in the 2010/2011 financial year because of growing local and overseas claims losses and a lowering of its premium rates to the government, its largest policy holder.
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