Senate President Alf Oughton has urged Health Minister Nelson Bascome to urgently tackle the rising cost of healthcare on the Island.

Speaking in the Senate last week he said in the he was becoming increasingly concerned about the price of medical costs for residents in Bermuda, in particular senior citizens.

And he predicted that in the past year, the cost of health care had increased by four or five times that of inflation, with physicians' fees "going off the chart".

Sen. Oughton said while he was not criticising Mr. Bascome, he urged him to look at the issue as a matter of urgency.

"I still have a great concern over healthcare. It's still rampaging out of control and the people who are really hurting are the senior citizens,'' he said.

"It's gone up about five times the rate of inflation. We need to tackle the nitty gritty on what it's costing people when they go to the doctors. These things are going up and up."

And the president claimed that both physicians' claims and dentists' claims were massively on the increase and often senior patients were unable to meet the costs not met by insurance companies.

Sen. Oughton said he believed the problem existed because the system was so fragmented.

He added: "Everybody is doing their own thing. You get a good service out there but everybody is so fragmented.

"We hear horror stories about senior citizens reducing their daily dosage, for example, from two doses to one a day, so they can spread it out for longer before going back for more.

"If something is not done to bring these health care costs under control, we could find that because of the escalating price, benefits could be reduced by insurance companies and employers."

And Sen. Oughton said he was still very interested in seeing a Bermuda Health Council formed, as recommended in the 1996 review of health care, which he chaired, to act as an umbrella group for the system on the Island.

He added: "We need a health council to ensure that the system is well-managed and well-structured. It would be an umbrella that would bring all the different fragments of the system together."

But Mr. Bascome has since said that people were beginning to talk, and Ernst and Young management consultancy was beginning to implement the 1996 review recommendations, along with the recommendations made in the more recent Arthur Anderson report.

And he said within the next six months, those changes should be implemented.

"These things are now being worked on and we have all the major players, including the Bermuda Medical Society, the Bermuda Medical Association and the Health Insurers of Bermuda Association, at the table working on these implementations.

"We are working towards making the cost of health care in Bermuda equitable so that people are able to afford it.

"I don't know how Mr. Oughton has gauged those increase figures, but by the time the Ernst and Young presentation is through, we will be able to pinpoint where these increases have happened, why, and if, indeed it's across the board.

"If people are cheating people from the standpoint of charging too much, then they will be publicly exposed.

"We are currently discussing the cost of doctors' time with insurance companies and physicians."

Mr. Bascome said he did not believe there would be a health council, as he said the different players were watching each other.

But he advised anyone visiting a doctor and requiring a prescription to ask their physician for the lowest priced drugs, which may do exactly the same job, but may not have the well-known brand name.

He said some doctors may be given higher commission for prescribing more expensive drugs, so patients had to be aware and should ask.

He added: "All people should ask for the generic type of drug. It could save them some money."

Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley said he wholeheartedly agreed with Mr. Oughton and said all of the players in the health field needed to be brought together.

He said he was at a hospital meeting last week which was held to discuss the possibility of having an MRI machine in Bermuda.

And Mr. Dunkley said he was amazed when people said it was the first time all the players had been together in one room for a long time.

Mr. Dunkley said: "I certainly support Mr. Oughton's comments. I am most concerned about the rising cost of health care and rising costs of insurance in Bermuda,

"Clearly, we have a lack of confidence in our system. The minister should be taking this on."