INCREASED taxes, higher social security contributions, more “pay as you charges” and private insurance premiums are among a slew of potential measures being considered to combat spiralling healthcare costs.

Health policy director Ruth Johnson said that the department was examining options amid costs which are forecast to rise by almost 3% a year above inflation for the next 20 years.

She stressed that no funding proposal had been settled and said the public would be invited to review the choices in early 2027.

“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what option you take,” she told the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel recently. “It is citizens ultimately who are paying for these services.”

Officials are finalising the figures, but Mrs Johnson said the projected annual rise was “just shy of 3%” above the retail price index until 2045 if current arrangements continued. Jersey’s most recent annual inflation rate to June 2026 was 2.8%.

She outlined that the options could include more tax funding, higher Social Security contributions, more “pay as you go” payments and increased private health insurance premiums.

The forecast covers Jersey’s whole health and care system, including hospital services, GP and dental care, and payments Islanders make themselves.

Health pressures include an ageing population, more people living with multiple illnesses and demand for new, often more expensive, treatments.

Mrs Johnson said the department was also examining how to make existing services and treatments more cost-effective before deciding how much extra money might be needed.

Health Minister Tom Binet indicated that he was pressed for more money in the Budget to tackle waiting lists.

“The thing that’s bothering me at the moment is waiting lists,” he said.

Senator Binet said talks were in their final stages and he hoped the outcome would be enough to see the department through the next 12 months.

The Health Minister also wants more patients with private health insurance to use it, arguing that income from private care can help fund the wider health service.

“If people are insured and they use their insurance in the proper way, that’s a very good way of taking pressure off and putting money back into the [public healthcare] system,” he explained.

Asked how fair access to care would be protected, Senator Binet acknowledged that private patients would generally be seen more quickly.

“I would assume that there will always be a faster response for private than there will be for the public provision,” he said.

“But it’s about making sure that the public provision is good enough to actually get the job done properly without anybody having to suffer.”

The prospect of further patient charges follows changes introduced this year. Visitors from countries without a reciprocal health agreement no longer receive free emergency hospital care, while a £502 daily charge was introduced for some patients who choose to remain in hospital after they are medically fit to leave and suitable care has been arranged.

Senator Binet abandoned a proposal to make the wealthiest 30% of patients contribute towards travel and accommodation when sent to the UK for treatment.

He said the controversial plan, forecast to save around £265,000 a year, had caused too much “angst” for the savings it offered.

But the Health and Care Jersey Advisory Board last month urged the minister to reconsider what its chair called “quite generous” patient travel support.

Care delivered outside the Island cost the department £19 million last year, down from £25 million in 2024.