Health Minister DeSilva, OBA’s Jackson clash over FutureCare

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The war of words between Health Minister Zane DeSilva and OBA Seniors Advocate Louise Jackson over FutureCare continued yesterday in the House of Assembly.

In a statement read before the House, Mr DeSilva said that the Ministry has kept policy holders aware of the co-payment policy, stressing that FutureCare remains good value for money.

However Mrs Jackson responded during Motion to Adjourn, saying that the Minister had mislead the Island’s seniors.

The discussion came after Mrs Jackson revealed in Friday’s The Royal Gazette a letter written by a civil servant to a policy holder acknowledging the “significant financial impact” and “anxiety and uncertainty” caused to clients.

Responding, Mr DeSilva said that on December 8, the Health Insurance Department issued a detailed statement on FutureCare co-payments, in which the Director of the Department acknowledged and apologised for the fact that the introduction of the co-payments had not been properly communicated.

“The Honourable Member (Mrs Jackson) said this information was only in brochures from 2010, but that the wording was not in the FutureCare brochures from 2009,” Mr DeSilva said.

“In this instance, Mrs Jackson was partially correct, and I acknowledged that last year. The 2009 brochure did not specify a 25 percent co-pay, but it did say that overseas care would be paid at rates approved by the Bermuda Health Council.

“It was also pointed out that from 2010, the Department sent it’s overseas care brochure to policy holders on several occasions.”

He said that while the OBA have claimed a “disconnect between the policy decision and the target population,” there have been only a dozen calls from policy holders over the letter, and none of the callers were upset.

“All of them understood the rationale for the co-payment and accepted it once they had the opportunity to pose their questions,” he said. “This is hardly a public outcry.

“Moreover, since the co-payment was implemented in April 2011, the opposition seems to be the only group criticising the move. In fact, the Department has only received one complaint about the implementation of co-payments for a local specialist care, and that was for a co-payment of $300.”

He then noted that there are no lifetime coverage limits or exclusions for pre-existing conditions, declaring FutureCare a good value for money.

Minutes later, during Motion to Adjourn, Mrs Jackson stood, saying that Mr DeSilva had misquoted, misinformed and mislead the country about the co-payments.

“Many people left private plans to go on FutureCare thinking that they would have 100 percent coverage,” she said. “They did not let the people in FutureCare know that there was a 25 percent co-pay.

“Then [Mr DeSilva] went on TV, he went on the radio, he was on ZBM for two hours maligning me, telling lies.”

She also dismissed Mr DeSilva’s statement that the only complaint the Department has received was about a $300 payment, saying that some seniors have faced bills in the thousands.

“How could he stand up in the House of Assembly, knowing full well that there was noting in print for these seniors to know that they had to pay 25 percent of their bills,” she said.

“There was nothing in print and he bulldozed it through. He went on all kinds of shows calling me all these names knowing in his heart that this was not true. Shame.”

Mrs Jackson listed a number of her ongoing concerns about the Ministry of Health, including Lefroy House, which she believes has not been overhauled despite $19 million being earmarked for the job.

The veteran politician told MPs: “Lefroy House, as far as I know, still isn’t finished. They won’t let me in to see.”

Mr DeSilva later replied the reason Mrs Jackson was turned away was that she turned up unannounced with a Royal Gazette reporter.

“I wouldn’t turn up at someone’s place of business unannounced with a reporter unless I had some ulterior motive,” said the Minister, who added seniors in the care home may have been embarrassed by a surprise visit from a journalist and MP.

He went on to criticise Mrs Jackson for spreading “mistruths” about FutureCare, claiming she hadn’t attended any of 22 town hall meetings at which the topic would have been discussed.

“It’s no wonder she doesn’t know the details about FutureCare,” he said.

Mr DeSilva said Government spends $122 million per year on seniors through a number of initiatives, adding: “We will continue to look after our seniors.”

On the completion of Mr DeSilva’s speech, Speaker Stanley Lowe rapidly brought the evening’s session to an end, prompting an outcry among the One Bermuda Alliance ranks, with several MPs alleging they weren’t ready for the debate to finish.

Paget West MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said she had signalled to the Speaker that she wanted to speak.

A visibly angry Mrs Gordon-Pamplin told The Royal Gazette: “The Minister gave information that wasn’t true. I stood to clarify and I was not acknowledged. It was totally inappropriate.”

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