The OBA’s new-found compassion
The One Bermuda Alliance’s latest comments on health insurance costs are either another example of them saying what they think our people want to hear, or a truly remarkable ideological conversion.
For years, Bermudians have struggled with rising insurance premiums, medical bills, and the growing cost of healthcare. This is an issue to be addressed and not just one to be exploited by an OBA pretending to have suddenly grown a heart.
When the Progressive Labour Party brought legislation in 2024 to help prevent healthcare costs from rising, saving Bermudians nearly $600 in insurance costs, the OBA voted against it. Where was their compassion for Bermudians then?
Beyond their record on opposing efforts to keep healthcare costs down, for years the OBA preached less regulation and less government “interference”. Now, when they think they can exploit people's struggles, they are claiming to have changed.
Give us a break.
Unlike the OBA, the PLP has always believed that we have a responsibility to make sure Bermuda works for ordinary working people, not just those at the top. That belief is reflected in the work already being done to ease the cost of living, including lower payroll taxes for workers and other measures aimed at putting more money back into the pockets of Bermudian families.
While the OBA are desperately “ambulance chasing”, trying to get on whatever side of an issue they think might make people forget who they truly are, we are doing the hard work of bringing costs down and improving access to care.
• Neville Tyrrell is the Government Whip and the Progressive Labour Party MP for Warwick South Central
