Report of the Royal Commission on National Health Insurance

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1740277147

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-132094

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on National Health Insurance

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stationery Office

Year of publication:: 1926

Scope:: XII, 394 S.

Digitisation:: 2020

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XI. Proposal for dependants' allowances

Collection:: Economics Books

140 MAJORITY REPORT. the question of extensions since, if rates of contribution are to remain unchanged, any extension the charges for which fall equally on the man’s and the woman’s contribution must be limited by the smaller sum. Moreover, in that case a sub- stantial margin in the man’s contribution would remain un- applied. On the other hand if an extension can be planned which falls mainly on the man’s contribution, difficulty is avoided. It will be seen later that this consideration among others drives us to a scheme of allowances for dependants in preference to increases in the normal rates of benefit for all insured persons. INCREASE OF STANDARD RATES OF SICKNESS BENEFIT. 310. We first considered the possibility of raising the standard rates of sickness benefit for men and women respectively to the basic rates of unemployment benefit, namely, 18s. and 15s. a week respectively. We assumed that in the first two years of insurance the present reduced sickness benefit of 9s. and 7s. 6d. a week respectively would be retained, these being one-half of the proposed full rates. We assumed, further, that the rates of disablement benefit would be increased to 9s. in the case of men, thus retaining the present relation between sickness and disable- ment benefit for men. In the case of women, where the avail- able margin of the contribution was relatively very small, we have for that reason assumed that disablement benefit must remain at its present figure of 7s. 6d. a week. On this basis the rate of disablement benefit would be one-half the rate of sickness benefit for each sex. 311. One disadvantage of this proposal is that the women would receive no increase in disablement benefit, which would remain less than that of men by 1s. 6d. whereas under the present arrangement both sexes receive the same rate. But there is a larger difficulty on financial grounds. From the report of the Actuarial Committee it will:be seen that the contribution required for this scheme would be 9-01d. for men and 9:09d. for women. So far as men are concerned the scheme could therefore be met out of the present contribution; so far as women are concerned it could not. We are forced, therefore, to abandon this proposal not only on the ground that it involves for lower benefits a higher rate of contribution for women than for men, but also and mainly, because it would involve an increase in the present contribution for women. INCREASE OF STANDARD RATE oF DISABLEMENT BENEFIT. 312. As an alternative to the above proposal we have con- sidered the possibility of an increase of disablement benefit only. It was suggested to us by some witnesses (e.g. Cohen, App. LXXVI, 9: Q. 19,802; National Association of Trade Union

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