April 27, 2011Dear Sir,The Government should extend the National Health Plan deadline beyond the end of April to another date (suggest the end of September) and use the additional time to explain to the people of Bermuda exactly how this plan is going to impact our lives. Most Bermudians do not know. It is not because they do not care, but because it takes a longer period to reach the majority of the population with such a complex proposal as The National Health Plan.Nor is it because the Government has not tried. They have. However they have not tried hard enough in my view. It usually takes much longer than first planned to communicate effectively with the general public on a matter as important as this. It also means using the media more effectively as well, and taking the time to have more public meetings in town halls, and church halls and large and small businesses with their employees than has been done so far. I’ve watched the media quite thoroughly since this matter started and I have yet to see a simplified presentation that the average person can understand, in the printed media or on radio and television.We all support trying to cover a larger portion of the population with health care insurance but shouldn’t we be told at what cost. The plan proposes trying to provide insurance cover for an additional five to eight percent of the population who are not now covered. It is proposed to pay for this health insurance cover by taxing everyone’s gross salary, based on their ability to pay. It is suggested it would be an eight percent to ten percent tax on gross salary (so far not confirmed). Who does this effect? Will there be a low wage exemption? How will this affect the poor? Will the cost of premiums go up for those of us who already have insurance coverage. We need to know the answers to these and many other questions before the Government closes the door and the matter is pushed through parliament.It would help if the Government were to provide us with all the details properly and let us digest them, question further and eventually come to support the plan intelligently. We support the principle of what the Government is trying to achieve. It is the devil in the details for which we need more information and discussion. That requires more time and dialogue, it would be wise of the Government to extend the consultation period of the plan further and employ greater efforts to communicate with the general public.QUINTON L EDNESSWarwick