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MINISTERIAL plans to reduce the the value of a fund which provides subsidies for Islanders’ healthcare appointments could be blocked, if States Members back an amendment to the Budget. The proposal by Deputy Philip Bailhache would see the proportion of social security contributions paid into the Health Insurance Fund rise from 2% to 2.5% in order to remove the “financial stress” being sustained by the fund. In the report accompanying his proposition, the representative for St Clement highlighted the inclusion in the Budget of an admission that the closing balance of the fund would fall from £92 million in 2026 to £61m by 2029. He forecast that a continuation of this trend would result in the fund being empty by around 2035. Deputy Bailhache said Health Minister Tom Binet had explained the fall by saying that the fund’s future was part of a review of a wide review into the funding of the entire health and care system. Noting that this review would not be beginning in earnest until early 2026, Deputy Bailhache said: “It seems very unsatisfactory that the future destiny of the HIF should be left in limbo in this way – whatever the outcome of the review of health funding may be, it seems highly improbable that there will not remain a continuing need for the subsidisation of primary care.” The Health Insurance Fund was established in 1967, providing subsidies for the cost of GP appointments and, more recently, a number of other benefits. Deputy Bailhache said that because there were now more demands on the fund, the amount paid into it needed to be put up. “It is hardly surprising that the HIF is now suffering from financial stress,” he said. The amendment is set to form part of the Budget debate scheduled for the second week of December. Deputy Bailhache has previously declared his intention to submit a separate amendment which would counter government plans to reduce the annual grant made to the Social Security Fund, in order to prioritise spending on other areas such as healthcare and children.
