Caribbean News
Lasco Financial Services Partners with FirstCare Medical Plan to Expand Access to Financial Products and Affordable Healthcare
#Kingston, Jamaica – June 19, 2024 – Lasco Financial Services, a leading provider of financial products, including their LASCO GOLD Visa prepaid card, proudly announces its strategic partnership with FirstCare Medical Plan. This collaboration aims to expand access to financial services and affordable healthcare for individuals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Jamaica.
As part of this groundbreaking partnership, cash-based customers can now load their LASCO GOLD Visa card to pay for their FirstCare membership online, further broadening the healthcare plan’s accessibility. This partnership allows Lasco’s clients to use their cards to pay for their healthcare plan as well as provide another payment option for FirstCare members.
“We are excited about this partnership as it opens new avenues for financial inclusion and healthcare accessibility,” stated Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Lasco Financial Services Managing Director. “Our goal is to empower cash-based and underserved communities by providing them with the tools they need to lead healthier, more financially secure lives.”
Cash-based customers can use the Lasco prepaid card to pay for their FirstCare membership online, significantly broadening the accessibility of this essential healthcare plan. Additionally, LASCO Microfinance Ltd, with its nine branch locations island-wide, provides financing up to $2.5 million for personal loans and up to $10 million for business loans, supporting SMEs in their growth and development.
Addressing the partnership, Jheanell Thompson, FirstCare Country Manager, highlighted the company’s dedication to creating sustainable healthcare solutions.
“At FirstCare, we believe in the power of partnership to transform our community’s health. Our strategic alliance with Lasco is
designed to expand affordable primary healthcare access to all. This initiative will empower individuals and small and medium-sized corporate groups to maintain their health without sacrificing their bottom line, reinforcing our commitment to helping build healthier, more productive individuals and teams.”
Meeting the Healthcare Needs of Jamaica
Today, many individuals and small business owners are struggling to afford comprehensive medical care. FirstCare addresses this gap by providing free doctor visits and significant discounts on specialist services, labs, imaging, optical, pharmacy, and dental services. The plan’s vast network includes more than 300 medical providers, with over 100 General Practitioners spanning ten parishes, ensuring quality healthcare is accessible to all Jamaicans.
“Recognizing the critical gaps in healthcare accessibility in Jamaica, together with Lasco Financial, we aim to bridge these gaps,” shared Thompson. “SMEs often struggle to provide comprehensive healthcare benefits to their employees due to the high cost of healthcare services. Our collaboration marks a significant step forward in ensuring that business owners and their employees can thrive professionally and enjoy healthier lives with access to essential medical services.”
Key Benefits of FirstCare:
- No Cost Primary Care Visits: Free unlimited visits to more than 100 in-network general practitioners, plus discounted ambulance services and 24-hour urgent care.
- Discounted Labs & Imaging: Up to 15% savings at in-network labs and imaging centers.
- Specialist Doctors: Discounts at more than 100 in-network specialists across major cities.
- Optical Benefits: Save up to 40% and enjoy a free eye exam at over 20 locations.
- Pharmacy Savings: Instant savings of up to 15% at participating pharmacies.
- Dental Services: Save up to 20% on dental services.
- Lifestyle Rewards: Discounts at spas, restaurants, hotels, and more, which enhance overall well-being and lifestyle enjoyment.
Enhanced Financial Solutions for SMEs
Lasco Microfinance Ltd (LASMF), a subsidiary of Lasco Financial Services Ltd., will now offer FirstCare Medical Plan as an added benefit to their loan packages.
SMEs who secure loans from LASMF will also receive healthcare coverage through FirstCare Medical Plan, ensuring that essential healthcare services are more accessible. This initiative helps ensure that business owners and their employees can prioritize their health while focusing on growth and development.
FirstCare is at the forefront of digital innovation in healthcare, making it effortless for individuals to sign up and manage their health plans entirely online. Customers can easily enroll in the FirstCare plan from their smartphone or any device with internet access in under five minutes using their Lasco prepaid card and begin using their benefits immediately within the local network.
This streamlined, digital-first approach not only enhances accessibility but also empowers all Jamaicans to take proactive steps toward maintaining their health efficiently and affordably. Once enrolled, members can present their FirstCare membership card at any of the over 200 medical providers in the network to access their benefits.
For more information, visit FirstCare Jamaica and Lasco Microfinance.
Photo Caption:
Strategic Partnership Announced to Provide Enhanced Healthcare Benefits: Jheanell Thompson, FirstCare Country Manager (left), and Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Lasco Financial Services Managing Director (right), sign partnership agreement, marking a new era of healthcare accessibility and financial empowerment for individuals and SMEs across Jamaica.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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