Guernsey Press

Off-island health cover ‘not made expected progress’

EFFORTS to fill the gap previously covered by the reciprocal health agreement and establish an insurance scheme for islanders who cannot afford off-island medical cover have ‘not progressed as hoped’.

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Employment & Social Security president Deputy Michelle Le Clerc. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 21691151)

Employment & Social Security president Michelle Le Clerc announced in January that it was looking to bring an ‘off-island medical insurance’ policy letter to the States by March.

The matter was raised in the States by South-East deputy Rob Prow, after Deputy Le Clerc’s latest general statement on her committee’s work.

‘I would note that unlike the January statement, the president did not mention this subject at all despite indicating that a policy letter would be forthcoming in March,’ he said.

‘This is a matter where several representations have been made to me and I believe is a

matter of significant public interest including from the hospitality sector.’

He wanted to know why this had not progressed as previously indicated, if there had been any change in ESS policy, and whether ESS acknowledged that the absence of such an agreement put the island, particularly its hospitality industry, at a competitive disadvantage compared to Jersey and the Isle of Man, who had re-negotiated reciprocal health agreements with the UK.

Deputy Le Clerc said those agreements were ‘much more restrictive than the previous reciprocal health agreement’ and that her committee was still pursuing the right solution.

‘This issue remains important to us, but unfortunately, we have not made the progress that we hoped for. It’s not through lack of effort,’ she said.

‘Our officers have done considerable research and the committee has looked at several options. But there are peculiarities in what we are trying to design.

‘We are in effect trying to design an insurance scheme of last resort, for people who genuinely can’t obtain medical insurance for a trip to the UK.

‘We need to offer a form of insurance for what the industry would class as “bad risks” but at a price affordable to those travellers, as well as ensuring good value for money for the taxpayer.’

An estimated price cannot be placed on such a scheme, she said.

The intention now is to report to the States with proposals by the end of this year, and the committee could not go down a different route.

‘The encouraging news that UK officials have suggested a meeting to discuss reciprocal health agreements does not mean that we stop our work on designing the scheme for Guernsey and Alderney people visiting the UK,’ said Deputy Le Clerc.

‘We need to make progress in both areas and then evaluate.’

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