§ Mr. HICKS BEACHasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Insurance Commissioners have decided that those insured persons who are exercising their right of a free choice of doctor and have made private arrangements with doctors off the panel are not entitled to receive medicine free from chemists on the panel; whether he is aware that such persons are paying from their own sources for the services of these doctors; and can he state under what Section of the National Insurance Act Parliament decided that insured persons who chose to exercise the right of a free choice of doctor would have to pay both for doctor and medicine from private sources and continue to pay their usual contributions under the Act for benefits which include both doctor and medicine?
§ Mr. MASTERMANUnder Section 15 (3) of the National Insurance Act, and under the Regulations made by the Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of that section of the Act, the insurance committee may allow insured persons, in certain circumstances and under certain conditions, to make their own arrangements for receiving medical attendance and treatment (including medicines and appliances), and in such cases the committee must contribute towards the cost of medicines as well as attendance.