Age Concern is fighting a rearguard action against the threat to increase national hospital insurance plan (HIP) premiums.

Bermuda's health insurers are lobbying for Government to raise the rates in April to offset the increasing cost of claims, despite a five percent increase in the premium last year.

Age Concern Executive Director Claudette Fleming said: “While the lobby from private insurers may be underway, there is also a strong lobby by advocates such as ourselves for Government to reduce the cost barriers to accessing eldercare, healthcare in particular.

“Both these efforts to lobby Government should be considered on the basis of who has the ability to foot the bill.

“While a compromise of some sort may have to be forthcoming, Age Concern can only support a win-win solution with seniors being least effected by whatever compromise is made.

“In the context of reports of the overall increases in revenue of the insurance industry in Bermuda, it may indeed be very difficult for the public and/or Government to be sympathetic to the concerns of the insurance industry when compared to the plight of our increasingly burdened seniors population.”

Argus Group President Gerald Simons has said it had been agreed that under HIP there should be a set ratio in which 85 cents of every dollar would go to covering claims paid out by the insurance company, with 15 cents set aside for administration of those.

But now insurers say they are covering cover 95 percent of the cost of HIP which costs residents $91.90 per month.