ACCIDENT INSURANCE

Evening Star, Issue 15892, 26 August 1915, Page 10

ACCIDENT INSURANCE

1 1 STATE MONOPOLY ADVOCATED. SIK J. G.' WARD CAUTIOUS. [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] „„ WELLINGTON, August 26. _ lucre was no special Avar business to j dealwith ; ‘ n the House of. Representatives j yesterday; au<l many members took advauj tags ot. the opportunity to: spend the whole afteinooa in discussing almost with party i enthusiasm the, question ot establishing a j State monopoly of accident insurance. The prolonged debate arose out of a motion by I the Minister of. Finance (Right Hon. Sir | Joseph Ward) to lay on the-table of the ■ House a paper dealing with insurance mat- | ters. It Avas subsequently disclosed by j Sir Joseph,. amidst merriment, that the I document did not deal with accident ini surance at all. _ A strong protest generally j made against the-present position of , accident insurance in New Zealand. | Mr Wilford opened the discussion by re- | marking that in the previous year the smn ; received by the accident insurance conI ceins in the form of premiums had eij needed the amount paid on claims by • £181,000; in other Avoids, the country had ' paid the insurance companies £lßl,ooo rtore than half the total premiums—lor j their trouble in managing the business. | "He urged That the State accident insurance j branch should, be separated from the InsurI ance Department and given a chance to i build up its business. j Mr Poland said that accident insurance I should be made a State monopoly. The ■ employers of labor had paid the comi panics about £346,000 in the preceding i year in premiums to protect the Avorkers, • and the companies had paid the injured I Avorkers £165.000, the balance (£181.000) ; remaining to cover expenses and profits. | Much of the money Avas used to fight the j Avorkers in the courts.’ If the Government I took over the whole business and collected ; the amounts, in premiums they could | double the benefits to injured workers. ! ; The Russian benefits Avero better than j i those in Noav Zealand. ! j Mr Anstey considered that the whole 1 system of accident insurance required rei consideration. More attention should be i paid to the needs of dependents, i Mr Veitcb urged the need for national j control ot accident insurance. Half-pav j was not enough to give an injured worki man at the very time when his needs j Avere greatest. _ He believed full pay should ibe allowed. The question of malingering j need not be a stumbling block, j Dr Thacker condemned what he described as the huckstering and bargaining of the present system of accident ’ insurance. There Avas a crying need for State monopoly of accident insurance, and the legal stipulation that all employers should insure their employees.

'■: ' Mr Poole said it was only‘by a '‘butcher’s block scale of p.ricee, stv much for a loss of a limb—that manv workers 1 bad been enabled to get anything more than the smallest possible amount. Mr Witty considered that it was better to increase the benefits ■than 1 decrease the premiums. The State Office should bo run for the good of the worker.’ If the Government desired to do something in the interests of- the' country, let them make ) a monopoly of accident insurance and fire i insurance. The present companies existed •- only for the purpose of earning dividends, i and no consideration was extended to the ’ victims; of accidents and their dependents, i There was far too much expensive dtigaJ turn before companies paid out. r Mr Hindinansh .said he- had personal • knowledge of eases where .men were > cheated out of their just dues. The .State - should have a monopoly of accident insurr ance business, which would result in a - great saving of money. ‘ " Mr _M‘Qiilum said that the whole sys- [ tern of accident insurance had broken down. ■ The employers did not get value for the money they paid. Claims for comnensa • tion should be heard by an insurance board 1 ) v ’th which lawyers should have no standing. and r.ll private companies doing busi- ■ r.ess in the Dominion should be wiped out. Mr Young advocated that local bodies . should be .allow ed to club together and • effect their own insurance. •The Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) said in the conrsi of his reply that lie assumed 1 t*.at members who liad been discussing this very important question realised that the whole benefits under the State insurance ! scheme were based on an actuarial comjputation. Hon. members must know that the Government as at present constituted would give greater benefits to the workers and reduce premiums if it were at all pos to do so. The example of Russia had been freely quoted, hut such an illustration could not be accepted unless they went iirto the question of the rate the employer was required to pay. the wages paid to the worker, and the benefits afforded. In Russia fireworkers had to make a weekly or monthly contribution. " Mr Poland: Ther don't pay a shilling; the employer pays everything. Sir Joseph Ward said that he had tried to get full particulars of the Russian scheme', but they did not seem to be available. Mr Poland : I bare got them. Sir Joseph Ward ; Very well ; I, s hail accept (he Iron, member's assurance. Mr Wilford : What is the svstern in Germany? Sit- Joseph W r ard : Contributions are made by the employer, the worker, and the State. In considering the Russian scheme the hours of work must also be taken into consideration. Mr Poland : That has nothing to do with it. Sir Joseph Ward ; “It has everything to do with it." The Yew Zealand scheme, he i went "it to say. was incomparably better [than (he Knglish scheme so far aif benefits | were concerned. -Mr officer of the depart | merit had told him only that morning that | a reduction of rates in accident insurance ■ was contemplated. ; Mr M'Comhs; Why not increase the | benefits? • Sir Joseph Ward replied that as the office j was run on ar. actuarial basis there could he no increase of benefits without, a i corresponding increase of premiums. The ! necessary money had to be found by someone. Of course, it was a very/ easy thing when we had not the actual responsibility to say what should he done. He had indulged in that sort of thing himself at times. (Laughter.) Rut when one had ithe responsibility of making alteration* one had to consider the effects in all directions. Ho believed in the workers getting all the benefit they could from all corporations, hut did thoee who were urging natioualisaj tdon of insurance realise that hardly a loan was raised in the .Old Country without these powerful corporations contributing largolv to it and exercising an immense amount of influence as to rates and discount? 'J hese large financial institutions had many millions at their disposal in the j Old Country, and had been vital factors in I connection with the financial fabric in j which we were all engaged. If the State stepped in to sweep them out of existence j would we not suffer in some respects at I the centre of the world’s financial market? | He went on tc point out that when the j State fire insurance was started it was explained that it was not desired to dc- | stroy the other offices. The department ■j had don« good work, and had saved the 1 one million and three-quarters ster- : Img in premiums. It had a great struggle j for a time, and had required the support jot the State to get through its difficult period. It was the duty of the Government to look into the whole matter, and he would' give the question full consideration. It was necessary to build up a reserve fund, and ui present the whole of the reserve of the accident department was I £30,000. It was not advisable to run too i fast. j The paper was laid on the table. .