Sickness - NIB Bahamas

1 Revised 3/11 Sickness Benefit You Never Know where Sickness Is. Sickness Benefit is a payment made weekly to eligible in-sured persons who are temporarily unable to work and solose employment income because of illness. It is paid at aweekly rate of 60 percent of your average weekly insur-able wage or income for the period in which your qualify-ing conditions were satisfied. The minimum payment forSickness Benefit is $ per week, and the maximum is$300 per week (as of January 1, 2011). Sickness Benefit is not paid for illness caused by thehabitual use of alcohol or drugs other than those prescribedspecifically by a medical QUALIFY FOR Sickness BENEFIT a person must beemployed on the day of, or on the day prior to onset ofillness.

2 Additionally, he/she must satisfy two contributionconditions: He/she must have paid at least 40 contributionsinto the National Insurance Programme since itstarted in 1974; AND He/she must have paid and/or been credited withat least:i) 13 contributions in the 26 weeks immediatelybefore the week the illness started; ORii) 26 contributions in the 52 contribution weeksimmediately before the week the illness started;ORii) 26 contributions in the immediate precedingcontribution CLAIM Sickness BENEFIT you must be examined by amedical doctor as soon as possible after you become ill,and have the doctor complete page one of the medical cer-tificate of incapacity (Med I).

3 You will have to completepages two and three of the same form. Claims by employedpersons for Sickness Benefit must be accompanied by aMed 4 - the Employers Certification form - on which theemployer confirms an employee s time off from work. Theclaim will not be processed without SHOULD BE SENT IN to NIB no later than sixmonths after the first day that the illness began. A delayof more than six months can result in the delay or loss FIRST DAY OF YOUR Sickness BENEFIT CLAIM PE-RIOD is the day after the day on which you stopped the event you see the doctor on that day, your doctorshould factor in that day, when computing your period ofincapacity ( , if you fall ill while at work on a Monday,and go to see the doctor on Tuesday, the doctor, if it is his/her intended prognosis that you would be fit to return towork the following Saturday, should give you four days off,and not three days off).

4 Persons in New Providence andGrand Bahama, must see a doctor within 7 days of stop-ping work; for persons in the other Family Islands, this pe-riod is extended to four (4) weeks. In all cases, personswho are unable to see a doctor right away, must explain inwriting the reason for the you become ill while temporarily unemployed or on va-cation, then the first day of your Sickness Benefit claimperiod is the day on which you are examined by a Benefit is not paid for the first three days of aclaim period - called waiting days Sickness BENEFIT CAN BE PAID for up to 156 days or 26weeks. It can be extended an additional 84 days - up to amaximum 240 days or 40 weeks - if the Board s MedicalOfficer is satisfied that your health is likely to improve withadditional medical treatment.

5 If at the end of this addi-tional period you are still incapable of work, you will againneed to be examined by a doctor; if you are found to bepermanently incapable of work, you can claim OF Sickness BENEFIT WILL STOP IF: you do any work for which you are paid; you fail, without good reason, to attend for an ex-amination or undergo specific treatment that maybe required by the Board; you go to prison, or are detained in legal custody; or you become incapable of work through your own neg-ligence or Benefit For Your Rainy Day Invalidity Benefit is a payment made to eligible insuredpersons who have been certified by a medical doctor to bepermanently unable to work as a result of an illness that isnot job-related.

6 (A person suffering permanent incapacityas a result of a job-related illness, should claim Disable-ment Benefit.)TO QUALIFY FOR INVALIDITY BENEFIT, a person must havepaid at least 150 contributions into the National InsuranceProgramme since it started in RATE OF PAYMENT FOR INVALIDITY BENEFIT rangesfrom a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) to a maximum ofsixty percent (60%) of the insured person s average weeklyinsurable wage or income. The minimum Invalidity Benefitpayable (as of January 1, 2011), is $ SHOULD BE SENT IN to NIB no later than threemonths after the diagnosis by your doctor. A delay of morethan three months can result in the delay or loss of BENEFIT IS PAID as a monthly pension.

7 Allrecipients of Invalidity Benefit (with the exception ofpersons who live on Bahamian islands where there are nobanks) are required to have their monthly payments sentto banks of their choice in The Bahamas . Payments mayalso be sent to accounts at the Post Office Bank, whichhas branches around the who live on islands where there are no banks, maycollect their monthly cheques from their nearest local who live abroad may apply to any one of thecommercial banks in The Bahamas to open an account forthe express purpose of depositing monthly INFORMATIONCHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCESN otify the Director, in writing, as soon as possible afterthe award of the benefit if you recover sufficiently to beable to resume work as an employed or you are in receipt of Invalidity Benefit.

8 You mustproduce evidence of your continuing right to the verification must take place during your birth monthand exactly six months thereafter. Your payments will stopif you fail to be verified as be verified, visit any one of NIB s Local Offices withyour passport or voter s card, and your National Insurancecard. Or have the NIB Verification Form duly notarized by asanctioned authority and returned to the PensionVerification Department in the New Providence Local Sanctioned Autority, is an Officer of the National In-surance Board; Counsel or Attorney of the Supreme Court;a Public Officer above the rank of Assistant Head of De-partment; an ordained Minister of Religion; a BankManager; Magistrate; or Justice of the Peace, who is not amember of your immediate family.

9 For pensioners who liveoutside The Bahamas , a sanctioned authority may also bea Notary Public, a Lawyer, or a Chief of OF APPEALIf you disagree with any decision made on your claim forSickness or Invalidity Benefit and have evidence as to whythe decision should be overturned, you can appeal in writingto the nearest Local Office within 21 days of the date youwere notified of the decision. Appeals are heard anddecided by a panel of three independent person who, for the purpose of obtaining a benefitunder the National Insurance Act, either for himself or someother person, makes any false statement or false repre-sentation, or produces any false documents, etc, shall beliable to a fine not exceeding $2,500, or to imprisonmentfor up to twelve months, or NATIONAL INSURANCE ACTThis leaflet gives basic information on Invalidity Benefit;for further details on this or any other provisions of ourSocial Security Programme, please refer to the NationalInsurance Act (Chapter 320) Statute Laws of The Bahamas .