Economy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1926

1 Amendment as to proportion of contributionspayable respectively by insured persons and employers and by the Treasury.

(1) Section four of the National Health Insurance Act, 1924 (in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the principal Act’), (which provides for contributions by insured persons, employers and the Treasury), shall be deemed as from the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, to have had effect as if for the words from ‘as to seven-ninths thereof’ to the end of the section there were substituted the words ‘in the case of men as to six-sevenths thereof, and in the case of women as to four-fifths thereof, from contributions made by or in respect of the contributors by themselves or their employers and as to the balance thereof from moneys provided by Parliament,’ and for the purpose of determining the amount to be derived from moneys provided by Parliament in respect of the cost of additional benefits administered by a society, other than additional benefits consisting of increases of sickness, disablement or maternity benefit, the amount of that cost shall be apportioned between men and women in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister of Health (in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the Minister’) with the consent of the Treasury.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the amount of the sums which are to be credited to societies out of moneys provided by Parliament under the proviso to subsection (3) of section one of the National Health Insurance Act, 1922 , (which makes provision as to the cost of medical benefit and administration expenses).

2 Amendment of s. 83 of principal Act.

(1) Subject to the provisions of section eighty-three of the principal Act there may, out of the funds out of which benefits are payable under the principal Act, be applied for the purpose of meeting the cost of medical benefit, the administration expenses of insurance committees and any expenses incurred by the Minister in connection with the administration of benefits a sum at such yearly rate as may be prescribed, but not exceeding thirteen shillings per year in respect of each of the total number (calculated in the prescribed manner) of the persons who are entitled to medical benefit as being or having been members of an approved society, and there shall be paid for each year to insurance committees on account of the cost of medical benefit and their administration expenses, and to the Minister on account of expenses incurred by him in respect of the administration of benefits, sums not exceeding in the aggregate the sum applicable as aforesaid, and not exceeding as respects the administration expenses of insurance committees the sum of sixpence, and as respects the expenses of the Minister the sum of threepence, in respect of each of the total number aforesaid:

Provided that, if the aggregate sum paid for any year to insurance committees and the Minister under this section in respect of each of the total number aforesaid is less than the sum applicable as aforesaid in respect of each of the said total number, the balance shall be carried forward and be treated as being applicable as aforesaid in any subsequent year.

(2) For the purpose of meeting any additional expenditure which may be incurred in the provision of medical benefit in Wales by reason of sparsity of population or difficulty of means of communication, provision may be made by regulations for the payment out of the National Health Insurance Fund to the Welsh National Health Insurance Fund of such sum as may be prescribed.

(3) This section in its application to Scotland shall have effect subject to the following modifications—

(a ) in addition to the payments to be made under subsection (1) of this section out of the sum applicable as provided by that subsection, there may be paid thereout any expenses of the Scottish Board of Health in connection with the provision of a medical service for insured persons in such districts of Scotland (other than the highlands and islands within the meaning of the ^{Highlands and Islands (Medical Service) Grant Act, 1913} ) as may be determined by the Board to be necessitous, and references in the said subsection (1) as applied to Scotland to expenses incurred by the Board shall be construed as including the expenses aforesaid; and

(b ) the maximum sums as respects the administration expenses of insurance committees and the expenses of the Board shall be such sums as may respectively be prescribed.

(4) This section shall come into operation on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven.

3 Application of Reserve Suspense Fund andCentral Fund towards making good deficiencies due to provisions ofthis Part of this Act.

(1) If on the valuation of an approved society or of a branch of an approved society it appears to the valuer that a deficiency will be disclosed, he shall forthwith report the case to the Government Actuary, and on receiving any such report the Government Actuary shall proceed to estimate the amount by which the financial position of the society or branch has been made worse in consequence of the provisions of this Part of this Act and shall, as soon as he has estimated that amount, issue a certificate specifying what that amount is, or, if that amount is greater than the amount of the apprehended deficiency, what the amount of that deficiency is, and shall transmit the certificate to the Minister.

(2) The Minister on receiving a certificate under this section may, if he thinks proper so to do having regard to all the circumstances of the case, cause a sum equal to the amount specified in the certificate to be credited to the society or branch out of any balance standing to the credit of the Reserve Suspense Fund, after due provision has been made for the payment of any sum charged on that Fund under or by virtue of any enactment, and if there is no such balance standing to the credit of that Fund or the balance is insufficient for the purpose of providing the whole amount specified in the certificate, the Minister may transmit the certificate with a statement as to the amount which cannot be provided out of the said Fund, to the Joint Committee, and that Committee shall thereupon cause that amount to be credited to the society out of the Central Fund.

(3) The Minister may, instead of proceeding as aforesaid, transmit to the Joint Committee any certificate received by him under this section, and the Committee, if satisfied that the apprehended deficiency is attributable in whole or in part to the provisions of this Part of this Act, shall award to the society or branch such relief as might have been granted under the preceding subsection, or such part of that relief as the Joint Committee, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, think proper, and the Minister and Committee shall thereupon take the necessary steps for causing the proper amount to be credited to the society or branch.

(4) Subsection (2) of section seventy-seven of the principal Act (which provides for the investigation by an independent body of claims for relief out of the Central Fund), shall, subject to the necessary modifications, apply for the purpose of determining whether, and to what extent, relief ought to be granted under this section.

(5) Any amount to be credited under this section to a society or branch of a society shall be treated as having formed part of the assets of the society or branch at the date of the valuation.

4 Amendment of s. 68 of principal Act.

4. Such part of the sums which under subsection (2) of section sixty-eight of the principal Act are to be carried to the Central Fund as may be required for the purposes specified in this subsection, instead of being carried to that Fund, shall be applied for those purposes as follows:—