Bermuda pays the second highest amount for health care in the world, but has a life expectancy similar to Korea and the Czech Republic.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson spoke on the rising costs of health care in the House of Assembly on Friday and said it was “soaring totally out of sight”.

According to the United Bermuda Party MP, countries like Japan pay half as much for their health care system and have the highest life expectancy in the world with an average age of 82.6 years.

Bermuda paid $4,959 per person for health care in 2007/2008 with an average life expectancy of 79 years, according to data compiled by the Bermuda Health Council.

Korea has a life expectancy closer to 80-years-old, while the Czech Republic is at 77 years. Both countries pay less than $2,000 per person on health care.

Mrs Jackson added: “You would think with all the money we are throwing at health care (life expectancy) would be higher.”

At a recent Health Finance Summit, Mrs Jackson said she grilled new Health Minister Zane DeSilva about his plans for this “pressing financial crisis”.

She said she asked him: what his plans were, how the problem was going to be solved and what the future was going to look like.

“In the past years health costs have been soaring totally out of sight and when (Mr DeSilva) has been asked about a plan he is very vague and maybe he didn’t have a plan. He said they are developing a National Health Plan.

“He also was asked when this plan would be put in force and again vague answers or no answers at all.”

Despite her attempts, she said the answers were “unsatisfactory”.

Mrs Jackson also questioned whether Government was going to rebuild FutureCare and HIP, claiming they were not fair.

She said the FutureCare system did not offer the same benefits to everyone and some people were paying more for the same package than others.

She also said some people, aged between 66 and 69, were not included.

Mr DeSilva replied to her comments during the Motion to Adjourn segment in the House.

He said the system was intended to be brought in through phases and there was no reason a senior should be discluded.

“If the Honorable Member knows of or has any senior citizens tell them to contact me. I will put them in contact with financial assistance and they will get a fair shake of the stick.”

Speaking on a wide range of health concerns, Mrs Jackson said people were being charged as much as $300 or $500 in up-front doctor’s fees.

“There is something very, very wrong about that,” she said, adding that cancer specialists at the University of Pennsylvania only charged $275 for their services.

She said she didn’t expect Mr DeSilva to get up to scratch in a few weeks, but was “waiting to see whether he is going to catch up”.

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said health care was becoming more of a burden to those with less means.

He urged Mr DeSilva to look at a presentation done by Chief Medical Officer John Cann in 1996. Dr Gibbons said it was appalling to learn that only 23 percent of the recommendations had been done as of this summer.

He said: “It was not a political document”, but rather an “analysis of the industry”.

Dr Gibbons said problems like diabetes and obesity were costing the country a lot of money and could be tackled through more rigorous physical education programmes in schools.