Concerned residents have accused health bosses of trying to change Bermuda’s health system with a plan “lacking in information”.The first public meeting of the National Health Plan saw members of the public complaining they couldn’t pass judgement on the consultation paper as they were not being given all the details.About 40 people attended the meeting at Heron Bay Primary School in Southampton on Thursday evening, with many of them firing questions at health bosses about the new proposal to provide health care for all.Health Minister Zane DeSilva, Permanent Secretary Kevin Monkman and Bermuda Health Council CEO Jennifer Attride-Stirling were all put on the spot by residents who seemed most concerned about what the cost would be.Comments from residents included: “I don’t fully understand how this is going to work”; “I’m confused”; and “This meeting seems rather non-productive if you can’t tell us what it’s going to cost”.The health bosses tried to reassure residents by talking about the benefits of the new system but they had to admit that many of the finer details of the plan, including the finances, had yet to be decided.They agreed how the National Plan would be financed was “the most single most important factor” but the precise details of “how much will it cost and who is going to pay” remain undecided.Dr Attride-Stirling explained that it was “very early days” and stressed the National Plan was just a consultation paper that they were asking for feedback on.She said: “This is the strategic plan before the detailed action plan. We know we can work other things out and we can work them out later with stakeholders.“The money is still going to come from us, nothing is going to change about that. It is still going to come out of our pockets.”Mr Monkman added: “The plan may appear to be broad, but it is intentionally planned like that.”It was said that there are no plans to introduce income tax but health insurance premiums will be means-tested based on a person’s income and ability to pay.This prompted one man in the audience to shout out: “You are asking for feedback but how can we agree on something before we know exactly what it is.”The public meeting started with a presentation by Dr Attride-Stirling explaining that the 2009 Throne Speech announced that a National Health Plan would be developed to “meet the needs of 21st century health care in Bermuda”.She said that even though the Island had a high life expectancy and high-quality health-care providers, they wanted to come up with a system that better addressed insurance coverage to contain the increases in healthcare costs.Dr Attride-Stirling admitted health care was “way too expensive” in Bermuda, which did not provide good value for money for residents. For example, she said that in 2004, lower income families in Bermuda spent nearly ten percent of their household income on health care.Dr Attride-Stirling said the National Health Plan would provide universal coverage but would not be like the NHS in the UK. She said: “In Bermuda health care is treated as a privilege to employment, it should be a right with everyone having access to it. It’s not a complete overhaul of the system, we will continue to do the things we are doing well.”There are no plans to extend the overall cost of health care in Bermuda. It cost a total of $5557.8 million in 2009, with the private sector paying 72 percent of that cost and Government 28 percent.But the standard benefit, which currently costs $236 per head, will be increased in price and benefits to include more than just basic hospital care. It is the aim of health bosses to “cover more people without spending more” and to ensure that “everyone has good protection if they have a cancer diagnosis, a stroke or heart attack”.It was explained that insurance payments would be paid into a central pot, which could be managed by government or private insurers.There was an overwhelming consensus among residents that they wanted to pay private medical insurers rather than the government. One woman said: “I do not want government to be running anything else” while another woman said: “the private sector would be a lot more efficient than government”.The public meeting also saw questions being raised about how the new system would prevent the over-utilising of services and protect residents from human error and whether incentives would be offered to those leading healthy lifestyles.Health bosses estimate it will take a total of seven years to roll out the National Plan. They want to have universal access and proportional contributions in place by 2013.Feedback on the National Health Plan should be e-mailed to the Bermuda Health Council at www.bhec.bm by April 30. The plan is expected to go to Cabinet in June.