NATIONAL INSURANCE

Northern Advocate, 19 October 1935, Page 9

NATIONAL INSURANCE

WOULD BE JUSTIFIED,

PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN

COMMITTEE PRESENTS REPORT.

[From Our Parliamentary Special.l WELLINGTON, This Day.

The report of the Departmental Committee on a compulsory national insurance scheme was presented/ to Parliament yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Mr Coates. The conclusion reached by the committee was that national health insurance had now well passed the experimental stage and that it was a proved method of providing adequate medical care for a large section of the community w’ho formerly received a most indifferent service. The schemes in force had been designed for the -densely populated communities of Europe and required considerable modification before ' they could- be adapted for sparsely settled agricultural countries like New Zealand. However, the evidence of the advantage was overwhelming that a health insurance scheme merited a fuller and more detailed investigation than the committee had been able in the time to make ' available. The committee suggested that consideration should be given to the recommendation of : the Hospital Boards; Association that inquiry should be undertaken by Government, which would inclixde taking of evidence from the medical profession, hospital authorities, the pharmaceutical profession, friendly societies, the Government Actuary, the Department of Health, and other interested parties. Citizens Should Be Protected. The report states that the establishment of a compulsory national insurance scheme was based on the view that it was in social interests that all citizens should be protected against the risk of destitution in old age and other hazards of lif and that as far as possible provision should be made to avoid .any suggestion of patronage or charity. . ! A nationarscheme might be devised to cover superannuation, widows’, pensions, orphans’ pensions, sickness allowance, invalidity allowance, ana children’s allowance during incapacity of wage-earner. It was considered the allowance should be made for maternity, but the information was insufficient to make a reliable estimate of the actuarial cost. It was considered that medical and hospital attention should be provided under a separate scheme. The committee considered that a compulsory national scheme would be justified on the grounds that the majority of wage-earners were not in a position to make adequate provision out of income, . and that a national scheme would enable more adequate 1 and comprehensive provision on the basis of a given cost to be made; fur-, ther, that it would provide a system of administration more convenient to the contributor. Benefits Scale. The scale .of benefits would be t dependent on the costs that could be borne by the parties concerned, but in the report estimates of cost were based on the following scale:—(l) Superannuation (after 65) of £2 per week; (2) widow’s pension of £ 1 per week, ceasing on remarriage; (3) orphans’ allowance (on death of father), of 5/- per week for each child till age of 16 years; (4) sickness allowance (during first six months of sickness) of £1 7/6 per week till age of 65; (5) invalidity allowance (excluding first six months’ sickness) of £1 7/6 per week till age 65; (6) children’s allowance (during father’s incapacity) of 5/- per week for each child till 16. In the scale of benefits it was intended that the position of female contributors should be considered later, and that it might be considered desirable to provide a lower scale of old-age pensions to bachelors. The report dealt with the persons to be covered, the basis- of contributions, the estimate of costs, and suggested the following scheme of administration: A Minister of the Crown, a national insurance board of six persons, the Commissioner of National Insurance, and district sub-commissioners, each of the latter to be assisted by an advisory committee of five persons. Under the proposal the head office would be under the control of a Minister of the Crown.