The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is polling registered entertainment sector members to gauge their level of interest in the development of a group health and life insurance scheme for the sector.
In outreach that began in October, the ministry has asked for feedback on the proposed Jamaica Entertainment Practitioners Insurance Plan, JEPIP, that’s meant to “provide critical assistance to practitioners who have made significant contributions to the development of Brand Jamaica”.
It’s meant to offer protection to persons like cultural icon Marjorie Whylie, whose relatives revealed that they have launched an appeal for funds for her medical and home care needs.
JEPIP will be part-sponsored by the Government of Jamaica. The administration of the scheme will be outsourced to private insurance providers.
The questionnaire being circulated by the culture ministry is seeking to gather information on desirable monthly premiums, demand for hospitalisation, prescription drug and other coverage, the age of members, whether or not they already have insurance, and if they would like additional coverage.
Earlier this year, Minister Olivia Grange said actuarial consulting firm Eckler Limited had been engaged to prepare the tender for the scheme.
JEPIP, she said, is “a way of giving back to a community whose talents in promoting Jamaican culture on the international stage have been inestimable”.
The timelines for the procurement of health and life insurance service providers was not ascertained.
The National Registry of Entertainment Practitioners was first conceived and implemented in 2005 as a single repository of information on all creative sectors, including music, film, literary arts, visual and performing arts, new and digital media, and animation.
Jamaica’s creative sector generated approximately US$2.2 billion in earnings during 2022, Grange said at a creative sector career expo earlier this year.
AP