A Government Senator and union leader yesterday alleged the Opposition used private medical records for political gain, as the row over civil servants’ dental insurance rumbled on.But one Government employee backed up Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley by claiming to have been hit with a $299 bill for a routine check-up on Monday — instead of the usual $80 co-pay.That patient said the dentist explained those on the Government Employees Health Insurance plan were having to foot the bill as a result of a dispute between Government and BF&M.Senator Dunkley and the One Bermuda Alliance claim Government fell into arrears with paying premiums, meaning civil servants lost their coverage. Government and BF&M deny the suggestion.Yesterday, Junior Finance Minister David Burt said the Opposition had used “people’s private information” which was “clearly wrong” in order “to make a false accusation in public designed to embarrass the Government”.And Bermuda Public Services Union president Kevin Grant said the information was confidential between BF&M and its clients and should never have been put into the public domain.Earlier this week, the OBA provided The Royal Gazette with lists, printed from the BF&M insurance portal, showing the status of about 80 patients on the GEHI plan. Some were listed as “inactive — customer must contact their employer”.According to the Opposition, that meant patients’ coverage had been suspended and dentists were entitled to ask them to pay their fee at the time of service. Under normal circumstances, dentists would only ask such patients to pay the uninsured portion of the bill, known as the co-pay.Yesterday, one Government employee put into contact with The Royal Gazette by Sen Dunkley and speaking under condition of anonymity told this newspaper: “I went to the dentist on Monday for a routine check. I came to pay and they said I had to pay the full amount up front because there’s some dispute going on between Government and BF&M.“So instead of paying the co-pay of $80 I had to pay the full amount, which was $299. I heard them say on the TV that Michael Dunkley wasn’t really accurate, but what he said actually happened to me. It’s not a myth and it’s not politicking.”In a Ministerial Statement in the Upper House yesterday, Senator Burt stressed “coverage has never been suspended”.Sen Burt told the Senate: “One must wonder who is feeding the One Bermuda Alliance information.”He suggested Sen Dunkley did not take steps to check the information properly in what he alleged was a “rush to make a political point without verifying the facts”.He asked Sen Dunkley to explain how he got the information from the BF&M portal, and complained it had not been redacted properly with a marker pen before being published.“In this case, it appears that a dentist has printed portal information and given it to Sen Dunkley,” he said.“What this raises is the serious issue of privacy protection. Health service information should and must remain private, and the use of that information for political purposes is unethical.”According to Sen Burt, the Opposition committed an “an act of betrayal” in then handing this information out to the media.He went on to ask who redacted the patient information with a black marker pen, before it was posted on this newspaper’s website.He suggested either it had been done before Sen Dunkley got the information, in which case he had never seen the information to be sure of his allegations. Or, he said, if it had been done by Sen Dunkley, this newspaper had not seen the information before printing the story, which would be “appalling journalism”.“Was it redacted by The Royal Gazette?” asked Sen Burt. “If so, then no real effort was taken to properly do so and this too is appalling journalism.”He said “private information of Bermudians” was visible on The Royal Gazette website before being taken down.Responding during the Motion to Adjourn, Opposition Senator Toni Daniels argued the party properly researched the issues through sources before issuing a press release.She said that within 24 hours of the story breaking, the status of the patients in question had been changed from inactive to active.“The problem was solved,” said Sen Daniels.“In my view the Opposition One Bermuda Alliance has done its job. We raised the matter in good conscience to ensure our working men and women did not pay for the inaction of others.”She said she would not allow Sen Dunkley’s integrity, and that of party leader Craig Cannonier, to be called into question.Government Senator Jonathan Smith — a former police commissioner — said Sen Daniels’ response was “ludicrous” but “a nice try”. He said the Opposition did not do their job properly in researching the issue.“Investigation 101 — they failed,” he said.Opposition Senator Michael Fahy complained that Government appeared to be accusing the Opposition of lying.“That’s unacceptable. No-one’s lying here,” he said.Sen Dunkley stood by his actions.“I offer no apologies or excuses for bringing this matter up,” he told the Upper House.Senator Kim Wilson, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, also accused the Opposition of not researching the issue properly before issuing unproven allegations.She expressed concern that “private confidential information” about civil servants came into the public domain as a result of the publicity.Mr Grant has previously said none of his members had made him aware of problems with their coverage.In a statement yesterday, he said: “The issue involving the GEHI dental coverage for civil servants which was spearheaded by claims from Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley that dental coverage was suspended because Government fell into arrears with premium payments has raised concern at the Bermuda Public Services Union.“The BPSU cannot be silent on this matter as it involves the confidentiality and privacy of our members. The BPSU’s unease is that information about our members medical and dental coverage is being made public and quite possibly for political reasons. This information is confidential between BF&M and its clients and should not be made public by any means.“As trade unionists, we have a high appreciation for the privacy and protection of our members’ personal information.“We appreciate the fact that BF&M have sought to provide clarity on their policies regarding GEHI coverage and confidentiality for our members.“However, it must be said that our members are becoming increasingly concerned when MPs can get away with comments about civil servants, either in the public, or in the House of Assembly.“While many of the members are aware of the exigencies of their positions, it is unfair for them to be subject to such treatment where privacy, confidentiality and even politics are involved.”Responding to Mr Grant, an OBA spokesman said: “We appreciate Mr Grant’s concerns and can assure him that the confidentiality of his members’ private information was completely protected. No person’s name or confidential information was released to the press. No-one’s privacy was breached.“In addition, we take this opportunity to remind that this action resulted in BPSU members’ GEHI dental insurance coverage being returned to ‘active’ status from ‘inactive’.”Responding to the Government employee’s claims yesterday, Sen Burt said: “This story demonstrates the reckless effect of the OBA statement released to the media of Sunday.“The Government confirmed with BF&M and alerted all employees on Monday morning that despite the claims that were made by the OBA, persons were covered as per norm. However it is not surprising that his false accusations and subsequent media coverage caused confusion amongst GEHI members and providers.“For every person Senator Dunkley produces, I'm sure there are GEHI members received services on Monday without issue. However much he tries, this is an merely attempt to deflect Bermudians attention from the central accusation made by the OBA on Sunday claiming that was 100 percent false.”“The OBA claimed, ‘Coverage for Government employees has been suspended because the Government has failed to pay the premium for their coverage,’ and that, ‘Government fell more than 90 days behind in premium payments’.“These accusations have been proven to be baseless and untrue and to date no one from the OBA, neither the leader or the OBA Senators are ready to admit their claims were wrong.”Sen Burt added: “One final point that I think should be re-iterated. The BF&M portal in question is a test system, that is not supposed to be live until August 1.“When the OBA talk about this system, it is important to note that according to BF&M, ‘This new system will not officially be in use until its ‘go live’ date of August 1.’”* Editor’s Note: Senator David Burt seems to be trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, he is suggesting this newspaper cannot be certain that the document was genuine. On the other hand, he suggests that if the personal information is visible, then this is an invasion of patients’ rights, which is an implicit acceptance that the document is in fact genuine.The facts are these. The newspaper did not see the patients’ names, which were redacted before the documents were provided to the newspaper. But we are satisfied that the document is genuine. Neither BF&M nor the Government, including Senator Burt, have said otherwise.Although it is unlikely that anyone would determine a civil servant’s identity simply from a date of birth, out of an abundance of caution, The Royal Gazette redacted the dates of birth on the list as well. When it was clear that some of these were visible on our website, we removed them.