Government could resort to legislation to sort out the festering row between doctors and insurers which threatens to increase medical bills for the general public.

Earlier this month insurers brought in a new compensation package which will cut payments to doctors for some hospital operations despite opposition from doctors who have promised to bill patients for the shortfall.

Yesterday Finance Minister Eugene Cox met Legislative Affairs Minister Dame Lois Browne-Evans to assess the situation.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome said: “Basically they are looking at one of the Acts which deals with the Finance Ministry and insurers to see if it is in the best public interest for insurers to be moving in the way they are moving.”

Mr. Bascome said he would be briefed further today at Cabinet. “We are concerned the public should be getting a better deal.”

Dr. Burton Butterfield who sits on the health task force which has been debating modernising payments for operations said there had been no further talks between doctors and insurers and they were waiting to see what Government did.

Asked if doctors had already began to pass on costs to patients he said: “I can't say what doctors have done”.

Doctors say the new payments system could slash their income by up to 50 percent while insurers say doctors will be better off after the restructuring which downgrades payments for some operations while increasing fees for others.

Insurers brought in the new set-up on June 1 after losing patience after talks dragged on for years.

Last night Health Insurance Association of Bermuda (HIAB) President Gerald Simons said he had no contact from the Ministers of Health or Finance since meeting Government two weeks ago.

Asked about Government's latest stance he said he needed to speak directly to Ministers to find out what they had in mind.

He said: “There is no question there are laws to regulate insurance in money aspects. I will see what they propose.”

He said there had been no talks set up directly with doctors and that talks this year had all been done through government intermediaries.

However he added: “We will talk to anyone at anytime and I look forward to hearing from the Minister.”

Mr. Simons said he was not concerned about reports that Colonial Insurance were not going with the new benefits schedule but were doing a separate deal with the doctors.

Mr. Simons said: “They are not members of the HIAB. All insurance companies are free to do as they please. There will be slight differences in all our policies.”