But at the George Price Centre in Belmopan they didn't feel the effect of the sickout during the third and final day of the budget debate.
But it wasn't without its fair share of drama, much like the previous two days. Except this time, it was a member of the PUP gently critiquing their own.
Julius Espat, who was known in his opposition says for his outbursts, told his government that they need to be doing a lot more to help those living in poverty as well as to improve the healthcare system. Even as the PM tried to reason with him, he insisted that they were not doing enough. Here's how that exchange went - where you can hear the PM - off microphone - trying to correct him:
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development & Housing
"We live in Paradise, but we have to take care of that paradise. Our government should look out and prioritize helping the poor. Private sector is there to drive the economy with their own participation. Yes, we have done some of it, I agree, NHI, positive, education upliftment, positive. But it is not enough. Why am I saying this? Never enough. Never enough. It's not. I'm. This is what I am telling you. NHI helps primary care health. That's incredibly good. I am looking at another scenario. We need to look at Social Security and analyze. And this is not a pop problem or a UDP problem. Analyze Social Security and look at the benefits that the recipients receive from their Social Security payment. Compare it to another system of Social Security, where Social Security owns the hospital. And as a member of Social Security, you have access to that hospital based on your social security contributions. So that is not competing with NHI. NHI covers the primary health care. This would cover when you have accidents, emergencies, heart failure. I had a campaigner of mine this week that did a heart surgery, $12,000, just to give you an idea where we collectively assisted. But if you are in a Social Security program that allowed for that, then you would be able to deal with another level of service. So what we have done in this government is extremely positive. But we shouldn't be complacent. We shouldn't leave it there. We shouldn't be patting our shoulders. We should be catapulting to try to find solutions at a different level. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with trying our best to do better for our people."
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