§ Mr. Newtonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the estimated cost to the National Insurance Fund of abolishing the eight weeks' rule and paying national insurance benefits to hospital patients.
§ Mr. OrmeI take it that the hon. Member has in mind abolition of the 39W provisions for reducing national insurance benefits after eight weeks of hospital inpatient treatment and, presumably, also abolishing the subsequent reductions applied, in particular, to single people who are in hospital for a very long time. The total additional cost to the National Insurance Fund of paying national insurance maintenance benefits—sickness, injury and invalidity benefits and retirement and widows pensions—in full throughout hospital in-patient treatment would be of the order of —60 million in a full year at current rates; and a further sum of the order of £20 million would be payable out of moneys provided by Parliament in respect of non-contributory invalidity pension.