Responding to the news in the JEP that, since 1980, Jersey’s government has been issuing ‘attestation’ health insurance certificates to Islanders who are not officially covered by the law, Senator John Le Fondré revealed that he had only recently been briefed on the matter.
Two backbench politicians have now called for answers and action on behalf of the public.
The attestation law only covers Jersey residents who were born in the Island, who have not lived in the UK for more than five consecutive years and whose parents are also Islanders. This is estimated to be less than a quarter of Jersey’s population, and yet the government yesterday confirmed that it had been issuing attestation certificates to all Jersey residents for 38 years.
Meanwhile, officials have now said they are unable to confirm to what extent the French government has been informed of the error and whether or not there has been a formal undertaking from them that no backdated costs will be claimed from Jersey.
‘I have recently been briefed on this matter,’ Senator Le Fondré said. ‘It’s a complicated reciprocal agreement involving two other jurisdictions, and will be made more so by the imminent changes that Brexit will bring. I am now taking expert advice to consider all the implications.’
However, chair of the Health and Social Services Scrutiny Panel Mary Le Hegarat said that the public have a right to know the facts of the situation now.
‘We need to have clarity about what is actually happening,’ she said. ‘Has the government had conversations with the French authorities about this mistake? And aside from that, what information do the public now need to know? Social Security should be providing that. The public have a right to know what cover they are entitled to when they’re travelling to France.’
She added that her concern was not that a mistake had been made, but that it had been kept from the public.
‘If anyone, in any walk of life, discovers an error, then they should be upfront about it straight away,’ she said. ‘You need to notify the people that it affects. If something like a reciprocal agreement is not effective, then people should be told that, so they can decide what arrangements they need to make. It’s about transparency and openness.’
It is as yet unclear how long the Social Security Department has been aware of the fact that an estimated 77 per cent of Islanders are not covered by the legal document that set up the attestation agreement. Sources within government say that it is ‘a matter of years, not months’. However, attestations are still renewed for all Islanders, with no official warning that the law does not technically cover the majority of them.
In response to the Chief Minister’s comment that the attestation agreement will be made even more complicated by Brexit, chairman of Scrutiny’s Brexit Review Panel Deputy Kirsten Morel said that this means Jersey should be acting to rectify the mistake sooner rather than later.
‘Given the fact that Brexit has the potential to damage relations between Jersey and France, I’d have thought dealing with this attestation situation is something we should be doing right now, not waiting for it to become a Brexit-related issue. We need to go to the French and hold up our hands and say: “Really sorry, there’s been a complete oversight”.
‘Brexit is uncertain enough, and so Islanders need certainty on this. Knowing how we might or might not be covered for health insurance in France is really important.’
Social Security Minister Judy Martin and External Relations Minister Ian Gorst were both approached but were unavailable for comment.
