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 VII. The financial resources of health insurance scheme

Collection:: Economics Books

78 MAJORITY REPORT. Central Fund is entitled to receive an annual Exchequer grant of £142,000 concurrently with the credit of the full sums authorised out of contributions. But under Section 68 of the Act this annual payment is reducible proportionately to any reduction which may be made in the contributions ad a consequence of the financial position of the fund, and if the contributions are wholly suspended the payment from the Exchequer is suspended also. The Fund stood at £3,336,000 at 31st December, 1924, but against this balance there was a substantial liability in respect of part of the additional cost of medical benefit for the years 1925 and 1926 under the National Health Insurance (Cost of Medical Benefit) Act, 1924 (see paragraph 182 below), the effective balance of the Fund being about £1,500,000. On the first valuation there were only four calls upon the Central Fund, to a total of £8,750. The draft on the Fund having been so comparatively insignificant, the payment of contributions has been suspended since 1st January, 1921, and the Exchequer grant is, accordingly, in aoeyance also. 167. The amounts credited to Approved Societies, Deposit Contributors, &c., or applied to the redemption of reserve values in respect of contributions paid up to 81st December, 1923, have been about £4,750,000 less than the receipts from the sales of stamps. The surplus is attributable to (1) stamps bought by employers but not yet affixed to cards, (2) cards stamped but still held by employers or Approved Societies, (3) lost stamps and unutilised stamped cards. The balance due to the first two causes is, we understand, estimated at about £1,500,000. This is con- sidered to be a fairly constant amount from period to period, but it represents at all times an outstanding liability which will mature as soon as credit is claimed for the stamps of which it is made up, and it must be kept in hand accordingly. The balance attributable to stamps on cards which have not been and are not likely to be surrendered, or to loss of stamps by the public may have amounted up to 31st December, 1923, to more than £3,000,000. The bulk of this balance is required by the principal Act to be transferred to the Central Fund but, to meet a temporary difficulty, part of it was diverted to recoup Societies the arrears excused to members under the Prolongation of Insurance Act. In consequence of the question which had arisen in regard to the cost of medical benefit, the balance existing at 31st December, 1923, so far as not otherwise appro- priated, was, in effect, applied by statute towards meeting that cost up to 3lst December, 1926. THE FIRST VALUATION. 168. The first valuation of the assets and liabilities of the Approved Societies was made as at 31st December, 1918. Full details of this valuation will be found in the Report of the Government Actuary (Cmd. 1662). The total number of

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