An eleventh hour injunction by insurers last night halted doctors' plans to start directly billing patients for operations from today.

They had threatened the action after losing patience with insurers over months of stalled talks on updating payment for operations.

But at 5.15 p.m. yesterday, insurers served the writ on the Bermuda Medical Society after being granted an injunction by Chief Justice Austin Ward.

Health Insurance Association of Bermuda (HIAB) President Gerald Simons said: “Insurers have proceeded swiftly to protect the interests of the public.

“It is hoped that this action will lead to proper and constructive dialogue between health insurers of Bermuda and the Bermuda Medical Society and its members which in turn will lead to a schedule of fees which can be agreed and presented to the Minister for approval.”

Last night the Bermuda Medical Society and the Bermuda Medical Association released a joint statement expressing shock at the legal move as they were already in talks on the issue.

They said the injunction came despite “a progressive informal meeting on Friday between the insurance companies Bermuda's doctors for the first time in two months”.

The doctors said a further informal meeting had been planned for next week to try to thrash out an agreeable hospital fee and code schedule.

Jonathan Murray, President of the Bermuda Medical Society, who spearheaded the talks for the doctors, said the two sides had agreed to set up a committee to sort out the impasse.

He said: “I am shocked to have received this writ today as we were very much hoping to come to an acceptable agreement with the insurance companies.

“We will of course abide by the law and I will meet with my colleagues tomorrow to discuss this further.

“However, it is not up to the insurance companies to decide how the doctors should bill their patients, particularly when they have not paid some of our doctors for four months now. We would very much like to be able to carry out the necessary medical procedures required by Bermuda residents, with the reassurance that all operations will be covered by a patient's medical insurance.”

He said doctors were surprised to hear through the media that Mr. Simons believes doctors want a higher fee increase than the insurance companies' proposed seven percent.

He said: “Our aim is not to increase our fees.

“From our calculations, the insurance companies' proposed fees under the new CPT coding would result in an average 30 percent drop for surgeons when compared to the old Bermuda Relative Value System (BRVS) which we used up to this year.

“We are not sure where Mr. Simons got the figure of 48 percent for doctors' fee increases.

“The doctors' fees that we have proposed to the insurance companies and Government reflect the knowledge and expertise required to carry out technical medical procedures in Bermuda today.”

He said the majority of operations performed in Bermuda are well below the cost of the same operation in the US.

He said: “Our number one concern is being able to provide the best possible health care to the residents of Bermuda.”

He said doctors were using the old coding since we they were unaware of which procedures the insurance companies were covering.

“Just this afternoon we received verbal notification that the insurance companies will cover the full code book and we were waiting to receive written confirmation when we were served with this writ. It is very odd, indeed.”

Dr. Murray said the benefits of using the full CPT coding is that it includes modern medical procedures and new technologies but it is also updated annually so as new doctors come onto the Island, they would know what was covered by a patient's medical insurance scheme.

He said: “At the moment it often takes months to negotiate a new procedure into patients' medical insurance coverage.

“This is what we want to avoid. We feel that the insurance companies need to cover the procedures that are in practice on the Island today.

“We hope to continue our talks next week so that we can resolve the matter expeditiously,” concluded Dr. Murray.

Mr. Simons said: “We are always willing to talk. We are very easy to contact.”

He said he was trying to preserve the principle that the Health Minister ultimately determines what fees the doctors charge.