A ten percent increase in the cost of insurance premiums for basic hospital care was criticised by Opposition MPs in the House of Assembly.

The new rate for the minimum level of cover which employers must provide insurance for — known as standard hospital benefits — is $208.44 per month, compared to the previous premium of $187.21.

The increase, which was passed, applies to both private sector insurers and the state Health Insurance Plan (HIP).

Regulations were also passed on Wednesday giving employers the authority to deduct from the salary of employees up to a maximum of 50 percent of the standard premium.

The regulations, which come into effect on April 1, mean employees will pay no more than $24.05 per week or $104.22 per month if they are under 65 and no more than $89.47 per week or $387.68 a month if aged 65 and above.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome told the House of Assembly that Bermuda Health Council had recommended a 15.9 percent increase but Government rejected that figure and opted for a rise of 10.19 percent.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson described the rise as "double digit inflation again". She said the HIP premium stood at just $52 a month in 1990. That went up to $93 in 1999, $108 in 2003, $136 in 2005, $161 in 2006 and $174 in 2007.

"This is staggering," she claimed. "It starts to boggle the mind. We now just have a runaway fee structure. Our seniors have received a five percent increase (in pensions). That says it all."

Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said: "Since 1999, HIP premiums have gone up 123 percent. In the previous eight years, under the former administration, premiums went up 71 percent, so there has been a huge acceleration in HIP premiums over the last nine years."

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said the increase for HIP "has gotten almost entirely out of control". He said it was a "stiff increase" considering that pensions were only going up five or six percent.

But Finance Minister Paula Cox rebuffed the Opposition's complaints, suggesting they were "playing mind games or seeking to bamboozle" taxpayers. "You might think that Government is increasing the cost of health care as if Government is the provider of health care," she said.

HIP had been overloaded in a way not foreseen, she explained, by people preferring it to the private health insurance available through their jobs.

Ms Cox said Government was trying to take the "pain and the pinch" out of premiums, while ensuring that health care was not significantly underfunded.

She said the UBP made it sound as though Government was "raping the people".

"Nothing could be further from the truth," she added. She said increases in private premiums over the years should also be considered.

Mr. Bascome said when the PLP came to power it had to increase HIP premiums in order to support the claims being made.