FutureCare is Future Shock for Many Seniors - Three statements

 

By Louise Jackson MBE, JP, MP, OBA Seniors spokesman, November 28, 2011

 

Government has a responsibility to ensure seniors are informed about FutureCare’s different levels of coverage to minimize confusion, misunderstanding and shock.

 

Our research shows this has not been the case.

 

We have found that FutureCare clients are shocked to be handed bills of many thousands of dollars for overseas care, professional services and other benefits.

 

They are facing significant co-payments for overseas care because FutureCare coverage is limited to 75% of Emergency and Recommended Treatment.  This means seniors are being asked to pay $12,500 on a $50,000 operation or procedure, or $25,000 on a $100,000 operation.  Most serious procedures cost within this price range.

  

In a FutureCare brochure on Frequently Asked Questions, question 7 asks: "Will I be covered for overseas treatment?" The answer was: "Yes, overseas care will be provided for emergency procedures or for procedures not offered in Bermuda at rates approved by the Bermuda Health Council." 

 

Unfortunately, FutureCare forgot to state that it seniors will have to pay 25% for procedures as well as hotel and airfare costs. This information was also missing in the original FutureCare brochure listing benefits. It was corrected in a brochure for FutureCare’s second launch, but the Government should have initiated a targeted mailing to inform seniors who may have been misled by the first brochure.

 

There are other levels of shock.

 

Seniors who have come over to FutureCare from the Health Insurance Plan (HIP), which costs $384 a month, thought they were getting the same overseas care they got with HIP. But they are paying much higher rates– $635 a month for 70 year olds and older – or close to the same price – $375 a month for 65 years and older – but getting less for their money. 

 

The issue of FutureCare’s affordability for many seniors will be addressed in another press statement. The first step is to make sure seniors have the best understanding of what FutureCare can and cannot do for them. That has not been the case to date.

 

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Statement by Louise Jackson, JP, MP, OBA spokesman for Seniors, December 4, 2011

 

Health Minister Zane DeSilva today on radio called me a liar over the lack of accurate written information about the benefits of FutureCare Phase 1. 

 

I stand by my comments and challenge the Minister to call me a liar to seniors who’ve received medical bills for thousands of dollars for a 25% co-pay they knew nothing about.

 

I challenge him to call me a liar to seniors who read a FutureCare brochure that said overseas care would be provided for emergency services.

 

And I challenge him to call me a liar to seniors who did not understand that their HIP benefits would not be fully extended to FutureCare.

 

The controversy on the Shirley Dill Sunday morning radio show was prompted by a statement I released last week urging the Government to do a better job informing seniors about FutureCare’s different levels of coverage.

 

The statement was based on conversations with seniors who revealed confusion and misunderstanding about their financial obligations under FutureCare.

 

On Friday, the Minister read a statement in the House of Assembly saying, in effect, that Government had done enough to inform seniors.

 

It is my view that Government did not do a good job informing seniors about FutureCare’s different levels of coverage when the programme was first rolled out, and that seniors remain misinformed and under-informed because of it.

 

Government has a special responsibility in this regard. Town hall meetings and films and a ministerial statement in the House of Assembly by the late Nelson Bascome do not constitute effective, comprehensive communication with seniors of a new life-affecting health care plan. In my judgment, it is critical that seniors first and foremost be given accurate information in their hands in black and white.

 

The purpose of my statement was to point out the need to communicate more effectively with seniors on a matter of extreme importance to them, from health and financial points of view.

 

Instead the Minister is trying once again to discredit me.

 

In conclusion, we need people in government who are more focused on protecting people than protecting their political backsides. I urge the Minister to take steps to minimize the confusions and misunderstandings we know are out there.

 

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The Government must do better on FutureCare communications

 

By Sen. Michael Dunkley, Shadow Health Minister, December 6, 2011

 

My colleague Louise Jackson has raised legitimate concerns about the Government not properly informing seniors of their financial obligations under FutureCare.

 

This morning’s story in The Royal Gazette reveals the Government has more work to do to make sure seniors and even doctors are properly informed about FutureCare coverage.

 

The reported implementation last April of a 75-25 co-pay to replace 100% coverage for procedures performed at the hospital without any kind of notification to the people affected is astonishing. That the Minister said policyholders were not typically informed when the system was “tweaked” is an unacceptable response. That the Minister blamed it on a “system implementation error” is a weak attempt to somehow spin blame to something beyond people control.

 

We urge the Minister to take responsibility and get this programme’s act together. It appears to be disconcerting the system, the people it was designed to help and their families, all of whom are on the line for the anticipated and unanticipated costs of seniors’ health care.

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On Thursday, December 8, the Government apologised to FutureCare clients for failing to inform them of a change in co-payments.