It’s a dire warning and one that we need to heed urgently — before we price ourselves out of the market.The cost of care is simply not sustainable for such a small island and can no longer be taken for granted, especially as the population is getting older.In this newspaper today Bermuda Health Council CEO Jennifer Attride-Stirling says there is overuse of diagnostic testing — but why is that? Shouldn’t one MRI be sufficient? Are people milking the system?She also says elderly people are taking up acute beds for social reasons. Often called ‘bed blockers’ these people have sometimes been dumped in hospital by relatives who refuse to look after them.Now they are going to be moved and the Standard Hospital Benefit will be used to pay for care at home. This is fine in theory, but this newspaper hopes there is a comprehensive support network in place to ensure they are not being neglected or that more pressure is not being put on already overstretched elderly relatives or families.Maybe this move by the Council will serve as a wake-up call — maybe we have become too complacent about the easy availability of healthcare here and therefore too self-indulgent. Maybe we just do not take the message about the need for exercise seriously enough.Or does an insurance-based healthcare system lead to a sense that we don’t really pay, that the money comes out of the pay check and we don’t really notice it? Maybe one day we will and an incurable pain will really kick in.* Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremydeacon1