ISSUES with the Health Insurance Fund were known about at the beginning of the political term, but it “had to take its place in the queue” of things needing to be addressed, the Health Minister has said.
A recent report from Comptroller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment concluded that while recent changes have removed cost barriers and broadened services, they have also piled pressure onto a fund now forecast to fall into annual deficit.
In it she levied a series of criticisms of how changes to the fund were implemented with little evaluation of the long-term implications, and accused ministers of having “no tangible plan” to prevent it running perilously low in the next three years.
Speaking to the JEP, Health Minister Tom Binet said it “didn’t come as a surprise to him” as he was aware of problems with the fund since taking office, but that because it “wasn’t going to go through the floor” during “the political term or year after” it “had to take its place in the queue of work”.
“It wasn’t the first thing we needed to address,” he said. Instead, the minister explained that his priority has been focusing on “operational problems” which is what “health care is all about”.
However, he added that there are people looking into what money is needed and where it can be sourced from to address the problem.
“I’m sure it will be addressed and plans will be administered,” he said.
There were several recommendations proposed in the report, one of which was a joint audit programme to monitor the HIF being developed – but the minister says he would oppose having it being seen by an independent body.
Deputy Binet said that, instead, he is hoping that “in the long term” it “can sit within the health sphere” if the new partnership board can work together.
The HIF – a pot of money which subsidises GP visits, prescriptions and other primary care services – is expected to shrink to £61 million by the end of 2029, less than a single year’s expenditure. The Budget 2026–2029 warns it could be exhausted in the early 2030s without intervention.
An example of changes to the fund that the long term implications of weren’t fully considered highlighted in the report, included the introduction of free GP appointments for all children.
