The Chief Minister told the house that despite the concerns expressed by the Isle of Man delegation, the UK Department of Health confirmed its consistent position that the UK-IOM Reciprocal Health Agreement will terminate at the end of March this year, their view being that the agreement is not in the interests of the UK taxpayer.
However, the UK has agreed to jointly review the impact of the ending of the agreement, initially after six months. It has also agreed to clarify the position of former and current British servicemen from the Isle of Man, and clarify the categories of Isle of Man residents who may be exempt from UK charges.
The ending of the agreement will mean that most Island residents will face charges for unscheduled hospital in-patient treatment in the UK from April 1 this year, and they are advised to get travel insurance to cover this possibility.
Accident and Emergency and scheduled referrals for specialist treatment in the UK will not be charged to the patient. Similarly, UK visitors to the Isle of Man will face charges for unscheduled hospital in-patient treatment.
The full text of Mr Brown's speach is as follows :-
Statement in Tynwald 20th January 2010 The Termination of the Reciprocal Health Agreement by the United Kingdom
Mr President
Yesterday, the Minister for Health and Social Security and I met with the Rt. Hon. Andy Burnham MP, UK Secretary of State for Health to discuss the decision by the UK Government to terminate the Reciprocal Health Agreement between the IOM and UK from 1st April this year.
Whilst requests for meetings had previously been made, the UK Department of Health had taken the firm view that their decision was irreversible and so a meeting would serve no useful purpose.
I therefore wish to place on record my appreciation to the current Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, for agreeing to the meeting held in London yesterday, which provided me and my colleague the Minister of Health and Social Security the opportunity to make representations on behalf of the Island directly to Mr Burnham, to raise the concerns of our Government, Members and many in our community over the decision by the United Kingdom Government to end this long standing Agreement. The Secretary of State was very understanding of our position and conscious of the Island’s relationship with the United Kingdom.
However, he made it very clear to us that it was the firm policy of the United Kingdom Government not to fund the cost of healthcare either for Island residents visiting the United Kingdom, or for UK residents travelling outside the UK. Therefore the decision to terminate the Reciprocal Health Agreement between our two countries would not be re-opened.
He went on to confirm that the UK Department of Health had determined that the Reciprocal Health Agreement between the Isle of Man and United Kingdom – as well as the Agreements with the other Crown Dependencies – no longer represented value for money for the UK taxpayer – a view Mr President, which the UK Department of Health has consistently expressed throughout the deliberations on this matter, since their decision was made to terminate the Agreement with the Island in June 2008.
At the meeting, I took the opportunity to express very fully, the Island’s concerns regarding the termination of this Agreement given the close historical and social ties between our two communities. I particularly emphasised our concerns relating to certain categories of residents, such as persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities who believe they may encounter real difficulties in obtaining health insurance for travel to the UK. We also raised the concerns of Island residents who had served, or are serving in the British forces, many of whom have written to the UK Government.
The Secretary of State agreed that officials of the UK Department of Health would clarify the position in respect of these people and indeed other categories of person resident in the Island who may be exempt from charges under the UK’s regulations.
During the meeting I also took the opportunity to remind the Secretary of State that the Isle of Man Government currently spends in excess of ?8m annually on hospital treatment through hospitals in the UK for Island residents referred to the UK for treatment. In response, the Secretary of State appreciated this position and confirmed that the option of such referrals would continue to be available to the Isle of Man after the Reciprocal Health Agreement ends on 31st March 2010.
The Secretary of State stated that since the Agreement was first drawn up in 1948, political and economic circumstances had moved a long way from the principles of the original concept, and that as such, such an Agreement was no longer acceptable to the United Kingdom Government, especially as it did not represent value for money for the United Kingdom and its taxpayers.
However, during our discussions it was agreed to jointly monitor and review the impact of the ending of the Reciprocal Health Agreement to the residents of both countries in 12 months time, with an interim evaluation being taken in 6 months of the termination becoming effective.
Another matter we raised and sought clarification on was regarding the health agreements the UK had with a number of European countries who are outside the EU. It was confirmed that many of these agreements had been in place for a considerable period of time and provided only very limited healthcare. It was further confirmed that such agreements were also under scrutiny by the Department.
Mr President, I think it is fair to say that we were left in no doubt that the United Kingdom Government’s responsibility to look after the interests of the UK taxpayers was paramount, and never more so than in the current challenging economic situation being faced in the UK. Quite simply, therefore, the UK Government is no longer prepared to fund the provision of healthcare for its own residents who travel outside the UK. In the case of a reciprocal health agreement between our two countries, we have to accept that the UK Government no longer wants such an arrangement with the Isle of Man and, at yesterday’s meeting that was again firmly reiterated but this time directly to me and to the Minister for Health and Social Security by the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Health.
