Opposition Leader Ben Smith says the Premier’s recent response during the Question and Answer period regarding healthcare consolidation raises an important question about Government accountability.
“The Premier said the Government did not have the legislative power necessary to prevent the market-concentration issues that have developed around Allshores.But the parliamentary record shows that the Government knew this,” he says.
“On December 6, 2024, the Honourable Craig Cannonier warned the House about the implications of the BF&M–Argus merger, insurers acquiring interests in doctors’ practices and the possibility of expansion into pharmacies, Mr Smith asserts.
“The Premier responded by acknowledging that the Government did not then have the power to act. But he went further. He told the House that ‘We must, through this Legislature, give ourselves the power to act.’ When Mr Cannonier warned that the Government needed to move quickly, the Premier responded that he accepted that action was needed.”
The Opposition Leader continues: “Mr Cannonier continued raising the issue throughout 2025. In December, he warned that the companies were ‘moving faster than legislation is moving.’”
“The consolidation continued and the Allshores-Phoenix pharmacy arrangement followed. Yet the legislation the Premier acknowledged was necessary was still not in place.The fact that the Government lacked the legislative power to intervene cannot be the end of the answer.
“Government knew it lacked power. Government knew legislation was required. Government accepted that it needed to move quickly. And the Government is responsible for bringing legislation before Parliament.
“During that period, significant changes occurred in Bermuda’s healthcare market with consequences for patients, healthcare providers and competition. The question is therefore not simply whether the Government had the power to act at the time. The question is why the Government did not deliver the power it had already acknowledged was necessary.
“Bermudians should not have to experience the consequences first and receive the protection afterwards,” Mr Smith concludes.
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