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 VIII. The approved society system

Collection:: Economics Books

MAJORITY REPOILLT. 17 U9 gE to be implied throughout the Act that the Minister, as repre- senting the Central Government, was to exercise some kind of general supervision over the administration of the Scheme, this was nowhere expressly stated and the powers assigned to him under the Act were extremely limited. Before any Society could secure approval, it was required to submit its proposed rules for the sanction of the Minister, but when once those rules had been approved, it was apparently contemplated that the Society should be left to go its own way, subject to two limitations only in the way of control by the Central Department. 237. In the first place, it was required to submit its accounts for audit by auditors appointed by the Treasury, whose duty it was to see that any expenditure out of its State funds had been properly incurred in accordance with the provisions of the Act; and secondly, the power was given to the Minister to withdraw approval in the event of the Society failing to coraply with any of the provisions of the Act. Outside the ordinary daily routine work of administration, it is true that the Insurance Commis- sioners, as they then were, exercised certain powers as the ultimate court of appeal in the case of disputes between a member and his Society. It is also true that periodically after valuation the consent of the Central Department was required to a scheme of additional benefits, or a scheme for making good a deficiency, as the case might be. But undoubtedly a perusal of the Act of 1911 conveys the impression that a minimum of control had been left with the Department concerned, and that it was intended that Societies should be masters in their own house. It was soon recognised that such powers of control as were vested in the Department were too limited, and in the Aet of 1913 provision was made enabling the Insurance Commis- sioners to withdraw approval from a Society on account of maladministration of its affairs, where it appeared expedient in the interest of the members of the Society to do so. A further measure of control was given under the Act of 1918. which applied to officers of Approved Societies certain penal provisions of the Friendly Societies Acts providing for the infliction of penalties on individual officers of Societies guilty of negligence in carrying out their statutory duties. 238. We were informed in evidence given on behalf of the Ministry of Health (Kinnear 567-570, 23,496-23,516) that even with these extensions the powers of supervision vested in the Minister are insufficient to enable him to take effective steps to secure and maintain in all cases the high standard of efficiency in the administration of Societies which is considered essential, and that circumstances arise from time to time pointing to the desirability of a further strengthening of his powers of control. Bearing in mind that we are here concerned with the administration of a scheme, which is financed by contributions compulsorily collected from the insured persons and their em-

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