Shadow Seniors Minister Louise Jackson?s call for Government to pay 100 percent of seniors? needs under the Hospital Insurance Plan will have struck a receptive chord among the many seniors who are suffering in ?quiet poverty?.

Nonetheless, it is unlikely that Government will look at covering the full cost of the gap, which Mrs. Jackson estimates at $11 million per year.

That?s a figure that is likely to rise quickly over time as more and more people enter the ranks of the retired.

Mrs. Jackson?s other proposal ? for Government to meet the costs of those who are under the poverty line is a more realistic idea.

But the real answer to the problem lies in solving the overall problem of health care in Bermuda and the galloping costs that accompany it.

The health summit which took place earlier this month was a good start, and reportedly some good ideas came from it. The Health Council that is soon to be named is also an important part of this.

Only be developing a consensus between everyone who has a stake in health care ? Government, the hospitals, private insurers, physicians and other health professionals, and most importantly, the patients ? can real progress on this problem be reached.

Simply demanding that Government or ?someone else? should continue to pay out for services whose price is increasing at a rate of ten percent or more each month makes no sense at all.

Some of the ways of doing this are simple while others are more complex. But the wellness programmes being devised by Argus and other insurers are a start, as is the move away from expensive US hospitals for some overseas treatments to equally professional but cheaper Canadian institutions.

Discouraging patients from demanding prescriptions even when they will have little effect would also help. And physicians need to known when to say no as well. Patients also need to stop treating doctors? offices and the hospital?s emergency ward as a drop-in clinic.

Government can also pay a role through encouraging wellness in the schools and through public awareness programmes promoting good diet and exercise and discouraging smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use. This would go some way towards reducing rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, breathing-related illnesses and the like.

For seniors in particular, health care is closely related to cost and income. The first shock of retirement comes for many seniors when they lose their employer?s insurance policy and are then hit with the astronomical cost of securing an individual insurance policy. Just when a person is most likely to need health insurance, they can no longer afford it.

Improving pensions would go a long way to solving the problem, but it is important that the pension recipient contributes to this as well.

That?s why this newspaper supported the increase in Contributory Pension fund payments in this year?s Budget and would support seeing them increased again.

At the same time, the level of the employee?s mandatory donation to his or other private pension fund could also be increased from five percent to six percent.

The other solution would be to increase the ?mandatory? retirement age from 65 to 67 or 68. Because people are living longer and healthier lives, there is no reason why they could not continue to work, although those who wish to retire at 65 could continue to do so.

But for other people who need to improve their pension position and would benefit from continuing on their employer?s health insurance plans, there is no good reason why they could not be allowed to continue to work ? as many people do already.