There is no doubt that Government's new FutureCare health insurance plan for seniors offers far greater benefits than basic HIP — but not everyone can afford to pay the premium.

An 86-year-old woman, whose income puts her well below the poverty line, told The Royal Gazette it would be "impossible" for her to find the extra $60 a month she will need to pay for FutureCare.

But she has no choice in the matter, along with more than 3,000 other pensioners who were previously on HIP (Health Insurance Plan) but are being transferred to FutureCare. Since HIP is no longer available to anyone 65 and over, seniors like her have no option but to find the extra money for the monthly $260 premium.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: "When I say impossible, I shall jolly well have to find it but what it means is I will have to cut down on buying anything I would like to have in the food line.

"If I see a bunch of asparagus and it's too expensive, I can't do it. I buy one tomato, rather than a bunch of tomatoes. Strawberries? I can't touch anything like that."

The former nurse said she was struggling to survive on an income of about $1,700 a month, comprised of $1,200 from an investment fund and a $500 pension.

She has life tenancy on her Pembroke cottage but must pay for its upkeep — something the Age Concern charity has been helping her with. And she is crippled by her electricity bills, hardly daring to turn on her small oil heater or the air conditioning after a $500 bill from Belco for one month this winter.

The grandmother has been on HIP since she and her second husband divorced and she said she thought the plan "really is pretty good" although it didn't cover all the doctor's visits she needed to make in a year or pay for all her medication. "I'm very grateful for anything they do but now it's going to be greatly improved [under FutureCare]," she said, adding that she was "as healthy as a bed bug".

She welcomed the programme but said paying for it would be extremely difficult. "I can't go out and get a job at 86. I'm in a rock and a hard place. I have no way of getting any income from anything or anyone.

"I'm on a very tight budget. If the poverty line is $28,000 a year, I'm well below it. There are doors falling off and windows falling out in the cottage, things rusting away. When it rains I have to put buckets everywhere."

The mother-of-two applied for state financial assistance but was told that while she still had an income from the investment fund and still owned a car, she was not eligible for help. The woman said she hoped FutureCare would at least cover dental and podiatry costs — two of her biggest expenses.

"I was something in the community," she said. "Now I am left in poverty. I'm disappointed because I was a nurse. I have worked hard on the Island nursing.

"Now that I'm not wanted anymore, somehow I just feel thrown away. That's not a very nice feeling when you obviously don't have too long. Psychologically and mentally, that's not the happiest thoughts for an old woman."