01 September 2023
The Minister for Social Security, Deputy Elaine Millar is announcing changes to enhance the Pension Plus scheme. This scheme supports lower income pensioners with dental, optical and chiropody costs. From 1 September 2023, two changes have been made to the scheme.
Firstly, the eligibility to the scheme has been expanded to include pensioners who have household assets of up to £64,000, up from £30,000. This does not include the value of the pensioner's home. The scheme will now be available to pensioners who:
- Are receiving a Jersey Old Age Pension or have 'entitled' status
- Do not pay tax (and their partner does not pay tax, if applicable)
- Have no more than £64,000 in household assets (excluding the value of the family home)
Secondly, the value of benefits available under the scheme has also increased. The scheme now supports the following health costs:
Optical
- Every two years, up to £55 towards an eye test
- Every two years, up to £165 towards new prescription glasses, lenses or contact lenses
Dental
- Every year, up to £55 towards a dental check-up
- Every two years, up to £950 towards dental treatments or dentures (if dentures are needed this can be taken as £1,900 over a four-year period)
Chiropody
- Every year, up to £165 towards the cost of chiropody treatment from a registered chiropodist
Deputy Elaine Millar said: "I am really pleased to be announcing this expansion of the Pension Plus scheme. The scheme provides well targeted support to lower income pensioners to make sure that they are accessing regular health check-ups and getting the treatments they need. Looking after your eyes, teeth and feet are very important as you get older. The changes I have made will allow more pensioners to receive support from this scheme.
"I hope that these increases to the amounts mean that pensioners will make full use of the benefits and get the right check-ups and treatments to support their health and wellbeing."
Pensioners can choose their own dentist, optician and chiropodist and the practitioner will automatically apply the Pension Plus benefit when a service is provided.
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