§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of persons eligible for exemption from national health service charges by virtue of the low-income scheme actually claimed that exemption in the three most recent years for which figures are available;
(2) what percentage of people eligible to claim under the national health service low-income scheme made a claim in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyFigures are not available for the potential number of people who may have benefited from the NHS low income scheme had they made a claim for remission of charges. Between May 1988, when revised methods of collecting statistical information were introduced, and March 1989, a total of 972,637 claims were received and a total of 689,945 awards of either full or partial remission of charges were made. For the financial year 1989–90 the corresponding figures were 900,509 and 813,671 and for 1990–91 1,01 7,7 3 9 and 957,886. Claimants may make more than one claim in any 12-month period.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the gross annual cost of administering the low-income scheme for health benefits and the cost per claim in the three most recent years for which figures are available.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe NHS low income scheme is administered by the Department of Social Security on behalf of the Department of Health, on a repayment basis. Figures are available only for the two years 1989–90 and 1990–91 when the repayments were £8.107 million and £7.180 million respectively.
The average cost per claim was £6.76 in 1989–90 and £7.65 in 1990–91. No figures are available for earlier years.