"barbaric'' operation to cure her painful endometriosis.

Colonial Insurance was doing this by refusing to pay for an expensive alternative to removing her reproductive organs by hysterectomy, said hotel worker Mrs. Simone Barton.

Mrs. Barton wants laser treatment to cure her misplaced uterine tissue problem. But she would have to go abroad to have it done.

However, she has unsuccessfully battled with her insurer, Colonial, for more than a year to get the $16,000 needed for the procedure.

Mrs. Barton said she was going public out of desperation. Expensive medication she has been taking as a band-aid cure was wearing off.

"They are looking at me as a bottom-line figure because I have chosen not to have a female castration performed on me at the age of 34.'' Apart from taking away a woman's ability to bear children and causing a major scar, "a barrage of problems'' were associated with hysterectomies, which were done at "an alarming rate'' in Bermuda, she claimed. "A lot of women do not know they have choices.'' Colonial president Mr. Alan Peacock argued Mrs. Barton had "misunderstood'' what coverage was being offered to her. The company had arranged a meeting with her today to further explain matters.

However, Mrs. Barton insisted she had not misunderstood anything.

"I am not illiterate,'' she said.

Colonial was offering "100 percent of the bill up to the Bermuda fee schedule for that procedure'', she said. But, the local operation only cost $3,000. And she could not afford the remaining $13,000.

"If a man was facing this situation the laser surgery I want would be guaranteed,'' she said.

In an October 21 letter to Mrs. Barton, Colonial conceded pelvic laser surgery was "no longer considered experimental'', and therefore was "eligible for reimbursement under your policy''. A company manager, noting the laser option was not available here, said, "The choice of procedures is between you and your doctors. Colonial will not impose a procedure on you.'' However, the cost and the benefits payable for each procedure would vary, he said. For a hysterectomy or laparotomy to remove endometrial growths, if performed in Bermuda, Colonial would pay in full and "you should not have any out-of-pocket expenses...'' However, if Mrs. Barton opted for laser surgery, the company would pay only $3,000. The company added, "Please note that we will not pay for air transportation or hotel charges since the disability may be treated locally...'' US medical reports say up to 95 percent of women no longer need radical surgery to remove their ovaries and fallopian tubes to get relief from the pain of endometriosis.