12 May 2009
Jersey residents with flu symptoms will not have to pay the extra cost of a home visit by their GP if a new regulation is agreed by the States this month.
The Social Security Minister has responded to expert advice that patients with the new flu strain Influenza A(H1N1) should stay at home and call for medical attention rather than visit their GP surgery.
Deputy Ian Gorst is lodging the Health Insurance and Income Support (Influenza) (Jersey) Regulation and seeking an early debate on 19 May.
Subject to States agreement, the new regulation will mean that the extra cost of a GP home visit arising from pandemic flu will be met from the Health Insurance Fund. Patients will simply pay the normal cost of a surgery visit, and the additional cost of a home visit will be met by the Health Insurance Fund.
‘I am pleased to be able to find a mechanism to help people cope with the cost of medical treatment in cases where the new flu strain is suspected,’ the Minister said.
‘The cost of a home visit by a GP should not be a barrier to Jersey residents taking the advice of health experts who are emphasising that if someone has flu symptoms they should stay at home and call for medical help. This regulation will mean that the individual will be charged no more than if they had visited the surgery.’
Those patients who receive Income Support and cannot meet the cost of a GP appointment will not have to pay for a home visit.
Normally, to be eligible for Jersey’s Health Insurance Scheme, which provides medical benefit to help with the cost of GP visits, patients must be resident or employed in the Island and have paid Social Security contributions for a qualifying period of six months. However the influenza regulation will apply to all Jersey residents. It will not apply to visitors to the Island, who should have adequate travel insurance to cover medical costs.
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