Insurance Coverage For Entertainers Nearing Completion, Says Babsy Grange
Culture and Entertainment Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange has announced that the health insurance scheme she had proposed for members of the music and entertainment fraternity is nearing fruition.
During the media launch of Rebel Salute, at the ROK Hotel in Downtown Kingston, Grange, in her update, explained that an actuarial consulting firm has now been engaged to assist in the tender process for the Government health insurance scheme.
According to Grange, the insurance scheme for the entertainment and cultural practitioners will be akin to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport’s Jamaica Athletes Insurance Plan, which provides the nation’s athletes with insurance that covers areas such as life, health, maternity, mental health and dental, and which she said: “has served our athletes well”.
“I have been working over the last year or so to provide a similar insurance for entertainment and cultural practitioners. And I am pleased to announce tonight that the procurement unity of my ministry went to market for an actuary: that is, the people with the technical skills, to assist with the tender process for the entertainment insurance,” she explained.
“And, we have hired Eckler Consultants to be the company that will assist us to scope out and to prepare the details for insurance coverage for entertainers and cultural practitioners and those in the entertainment industry,” she added.
The Minister, who is a former manager for Shabba Ranks, Bounty Killer, Patra and Leroy Sibbles, said that having an insurance scheme of this nature in place was critical, as it would ease the burden on persons who have made significant contributions to the development of Brand Jamaica, if and when they become ill.
“Wherever you go in the world they speak about our music, and I felt it was important that as part of our Jamaica 60 legacy, that we ensure that we introduce insurance coverage for our artistes, our writers, our cultural practitioners, to ensure that they benefit from what they have provided to this country in building the brand,” she said.
The former Specs/Shang executive also pointed out that practitioners who have reached an advanced age are the ones who especially need the insurance support.
“Every day, we lose one of our veterans. They either get very ill or they pass, there is always an issue about dealing with the funeral; there is always an issue about dealing with the health insurance, the health coverage, and I thought it was about time, for this sector which has contributed to building brand Jamaica,” she said.
The Minister, in expressing her support for Rebel Salute, said praised its organizers for its thrust to always showcase Jamaica’s iconic vintage artistes, many of whom have not graced Jamaica’s stages for decades.
“We have some great veterans and Rebel Salute showcases not just those who have paved the way to build the music, but also the new emerging artistes who are providing conscious music. And that is what is so great about Rebel Salute,” she said.
“We have a music that has penetrated all corners of the world. We have given the world a new religion in Rastafari, and we have given the world a musical icon in Bob Marley and many other musical icons,” she said.
Minister Grange had first announced the plans by her Ministry to establish an insurance fund for performing artists and musicians back in December 2019, while during her address at the media launch for Reggae Month 2020 in Kingston.
At the time Grange had said that it was being proposed that provisions under the facility, being targeted for introduction in 2020, cover life, health, maternity and pension.
She had also said that the initiative would be undertaken in partnership with several key stakeholders, among them, the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM), Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA), and Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA).
She had also said that she was in discussion with Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, regarding exploring the possibility of benefits under the proposed Tourism Workers Pension Scheme also accruing to entertainers and musicians.