The news that has come out of the Island’s health sector in the past week should have every resident gravely concerned.

The ongoing discussions between doctors and insurance companies over hospital fees and the lack of enough professional dentists to meet demand indicate that people in Bermuda may be missing out on their right to have the best possible healthcare at an affordable price.

Having to put off treatment because one cannot afford it, despite paying for insurance, should make people question the point of their payments and wonder where those funds are going — especially when it has been frequently pointed out that insurance premiums are rising.

Unequal payments to doctors for performing the same work appears unreasonable and for patients to pay increasing premiums and still be left paying more and more of their hospital bill also seems unfair.

Waiting for basic dental treatment due to a lack of qualified practitioners raises the question why foreign trained workers are not allow to come to the Island to practise.

The argument that the positions are being held for Bermudians who are training overseas does not hold water.

Would any other company or industry on the Island be told to keep positions vacant for returning Bermudians indefinitely?

No. They would be allowed to bring someone in on a work permit to fill the post until a qualified Bermudian was able to take it.

Government’s exit forms at the airport are supposed to be giving it the information regarding who is overseas studying, what they are studying and when they will graduate.

This information would seem to enable the Immigration Department to open the field to foreign practitioners on work permits until the Bermudian trained dentists returned to the Island, whereupon they could take up their posts.

Nothing is being served by keeping the posts vacant until the Bermudians return except to deny residents dental care.

Government must step forward and address these issues.

As the Finance Minister said during the last Budget: “Few things are more precious than one’s good health.”