"Right-thinking people" will appreciate why only a minority of seniors can benefit from FutureCare in its first year, according to Health Minister Nelson Bascome.

The Government MP said that the interest shown by pensioners in enrolling in the new low-cost health insurance programme — and the "concern in the media" that only a limited number can join — was a sign that Government had got the scheme right.

But the Opposition said they still had serious concerns about how FutureCare will be paid for in the coming years and worries about those uninsured elderly who cannot join it and no longer have the option of the state Health Insurance Plan (HIP).

Government admitted to The Royal Gazette last week that it deliberately left seniors in the dark about the fact that they had to be in HIP in order to be eligible for FutureCare to keep the numbers down in the first year of the scheme.

The result is that only about 3,100 seniors will benefit from the scaled-back initiative until at least April next year.

Said Mr. Bascome at a press conference on Thursday: "Although there has been some concern in the media about us creating limitations on who can access the plan in the first year, I believe that this concern is also an endorsement of how well we have done in creating FutureCare.

"While there was limited interest in the Government's HIP, the interest shown towards FutureCare tells me that we have gotten it right.

"The reality however is that everyone cannot access FutureCare in the first year. I believe that right-thinking people can see that in order for the plan to be successfully implemented, it will have to be phased in."

Health permanent secretary Warren Jones has said Government was "inundated" with calls from seniors wanting to join HIP after Mr. Bascome announced on March 11 that that was the way to be included in FutureCare.

The Minister was unable to provide figures for how many were rejected after the doors were closed on HIP once the scale of interest became apparent.

Mr. Bascome said he believed there was about one call a day after his announcement.

"I don't think we were logging the calls," he added.

The Minister said he was confident that Government could afford to pay for FutureCare in its first year and in future years.

But Opposition MPs Louise Jackson and Grant Gibbons cast doubt on that claim, suggesting that a proper fiscal analysis of the future costs had not been conducted.

Shadow Education Minister Dr. Gibbons said rising hospital fees and doctors' salaries as well as the price of prescription drugs would bump up the amount taxpayers have to shell out to cover the scheme.

"It's going to be the working population who are going to have to pay for it," he said. "Work out what this could look like in five years. It could be really ugly."

Both he and Shadow Health and Seniors Minister Mrs. Jackson questioned why the actuarial reports used to project the costs in future years had not been released to the public. Mrs. Jackson said: "We have pleaded for it."

But Mr. Jones told this newspaper: "They have never asked us for it. Understanding an actuarial report would be like watching paint dry. It's not something that's made public."

Mrs. Jackson said she was worried about those seniors who lose their jobs — and therefore their health insurance plan — and cannot access HIP or FutureCare.

She suggested there was a sizeable number in that category who had paid taxes all their lives and now had no health care cover. "Is that fair?" she asked.

Mr. Bascome told the press conference that some insurers — including Argus and British American — had a cheap HIP-type basic scheme available for seniors.

Apart from those seniors who were in HIP before the plan closed in March, FutureCare is now open only to anyone turning 65 after January 1 this year and any senior approved for state financial assistance.