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The PLP government confirmed through its Permanent Secretary Warren Jones that seniors were deliberately not told that they must be already enrolled in the Health Insurance Plan (HIP) in order to be a part of the new Future Care health plan. They admitted that they did not advertise by any form of government notice, in any form of media to inform the people that they must belong to HIP to be a part of FutureCare.

The PLP government have again misled one of the most vulnerable groups in our community, our seniors. Premier Ewart Brown promised during the lead up to the 2007 election that "the PLP would make the dreaded prospect of health care insecurity a thing of the past for our senior citizens." An election promise that was not delivered.

The excuse is that they could not afford the numbers and so closed the doors on pensioners who did not belong to HIP. So now out of over 8,000 seniors, barely 3,000 will enjoy the benefits of FutureCare. This is a basic issue of how we treat our seniors. A promise made and broken.

Minister Nelson Bascome stated in an article on February 20 in the Bermuda Sun that Phase 1 will see Future Care replace HIP for those seniors who were enrolled in the HIP plan prior to January 1, 2009. This was almost TWO MONTHS AFTER the deadline of January 1, 2009. He stated: "FutureCare will be the health plan for ALL CITIZENS of Bermuda aged 65 and over." This was an empty promise. He deceived seniors. He kept them in the dark. He left them without health care that they could afford, and it means many will go without health care at a time in their life when they most need it. Many seniors lose their health insurance when they retire and have to use private insurance, which can cost $800 or more. He never gave them a chance to switch to HIP.

A statement by the Permanent Secretary of Health said: "Back in October when the proposals were first put to Government, we did not envision the economic picture that we are looking at today."

Once this became evident around the beginning of the new year, the team had to backtrack and reconfigure the plan.

They had time to prepare

This government had plenty of time to prepare for the economic downturn. My colleague Bob Richards, the Shadow Finance Minister, was emphatic in warning throughout 2008. In his Reply to the Budget 2008 more than 13 months ago he said: "The evidence is clear that the U.S. is headed for a period of slow growth, no growth or contraction and will drag the global economic growth rate down with it... It is critical that Bermuda and its Government adjust its plans, its strategies and its spending habits..."

The reason Mr. Richards spent so much time last year warning government to prepare for the downturn was to avoid the kind of scambling and backtracking that has characterized the work of FutureCare which the Permanent Secretary of Health spoke of recently. Our seniors have been victimized by bureaucratic oversights.

Government fed seniors a half-baked, poorly thought out scheme with vague, unspecified promises and then deliberately gave them no information on how to enter the scheme.

The UBP estimated in the lead up to the 2007 election that a plan like Future Care could cost over $60 million a year.

Another problem for government is who will pay for this plan? If it cost them $41 million a year to care for about 3,000 seniors what will it cost for 8,000? Who will pay for this financial burden next year if we are still in a recession?

We have been conned and duped! We have paid taxes all of our lives and when we need health care more than ever we are being used to gain votes.

This is a huge fairness and equity issue.

Louise Jackson is the Shadow Health Minister[[In-content Ad]]

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