There are some seafarers and their families that do not realise they are eligible for health insurance through CINICO. This is especially important when they have to go the hospital, according to Godfrey McLean, Office Manager of the Cayman Islands Seafarers Association.

“There are a lot of retired seamen that do not realise they have health benefits,” said Mr McLean. ”And many of them go to a private doctor and pay a lot of money for their visit and their medication and don’t realise they can go to the Government Hospital, to see the doctor and get their medication at no cost.

“And then if they go to the hospital the staff do not always know to ask whether someone is an ex-seaman or a widow of a seaman so some of these people are slipping through the cracks.” Mr McLean explained that for several years the system was a bit haphazard in that seamen just needed to go to the hospital and say they were over 65 and they would be treated.

Now Government is working through CINICO so that it is administered in an organised method. He added that not all retired seaman are proactive about knowing what their benefits. Furthermore, they don’t know that their wives and dependent children are also eligible for CINICO benefits.

That is why it is important that retired seamen and their widows come to Seafarers Association to sign up for CINICO if they do not have insurance. He said when CINICO was first presented to the Seafarers Association they were told they would not pay anything for health insurance.

However, they still contribute a small stipend of $10 a month per person to Government to help cover the costs of CINICO. And although the stipend does not cover most of the insurance premiums for CINICO, it gives the seamen a sense of pride that they are contributing something. “In the early days the seamen made this Island and kept this place afloat.

Now it is the responsibility of the Government to take care of its people,” he said. He acknowledged there might be some seamen who are wealthy and could afford private insurance. However, because of age or illness they still may be refused health insurance coverage so without CINICO they would be left out in the cold.

And since Cayman does not have an income tax system there is no way to know what someone’s income bracket is. There are approximately 600 members of the Seafarers Association, and Cayman was considered one of the best countries for seamen. But it is a dying art, because there are very few young men going into seamanship today.

 Instead most men are encouraging their children to go into other fields such as accounting, law or banking. Most of the current members are 55 and older. The Seafarers Association is brotherhood for all seamen. To qualify for CINICO health care benefits, the seaman must be at least 55 years old.

shurna@caymannetnews.com