Futurecare subsidy for long term residents

Is it unlawful to charge non-Bermudians three times the amount of Bermudians for FutureCare?

Pretty much all long term residents who arrived in Bermuda before August 1989 will now have Bermudian status. Those who arrived after that date are now reaching retirement age in growing numbers.

Health insurance is extremely expensive, and the Government offers a FutureCare Plan for seniors, to provide a more affordable way of obtaining medical coverage. The subsidised FutureCare premium is $530.14 per month, whereas the unsubsidised FutureCare premium is roughly three times this - at $1,528.48 per month!

According to the information on the Government website, only Bermudian status holders are entitled to the subsidised premium. Having reviewed the actual law on FutureCare, I believe this is unlawful, as the law itself does not restrict subsidy to Bermudian status holders. Section 2 of the Health Insurance Act only refers to subsidies for 'resident persons', which is anybody who has lived in Bermuda for the specified period of 10 of the previous 20 years.

I believe that there is a strong case for non-Bermudian long term residents to access subsidised FutureCare, regardless of what immigration status they hold. If this impacts on you then feel free to get in touch to discuss further. There is a mechanism under the Health Insurance Act for disputing decisions on awards of FutureCare benefits.