No. 258/1936:

REGULATIONS MADE BY THE MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH, UNDER SECTIONS 36 AND 38 OF THE National Insurance Act, 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 55), AND SECTION 27 of THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACT, 1933 (NO. 13 OF 1933), DATED 9TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1936.

WHEREAS by sub-section (1) of Section 36 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, a valuation of the assets and liabilities arising under the Acts of every approved society and every branch of an approved society is required to be made at the expiration of every five years or at such other time as the Minister may appoint:

AND WHEREAS by sub-section (1) of Section 26 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1933 , no valuation shall be made after the passing of that Act under Section 36 of the Act of 1911 of the assets and liabilities of any approved society:

AND WHEREAS by sub-section (2) of Section 26 of the Act of 1933, the valuation of the assets and liabilities of the Unified Society made, next after the passing of the Act of 1933, under Section 36 of the Act of 1911 shall be made on the basis that the assets and liabilities of the Unified Society include the assets and liabilities of every approved society existing at the date as at which such valuation is made and that the insured members of every such society are insured members of the Unified Society:

AND WHEREAS by Section 27 of the Act of 1933, for the purpose of ascertaining whether a deficiency exists as at the 31st day of December, 1933, in either the St. James's Gate Health Insurance Society or the Dublin United Tramways and Omnibus Employees' Health Insurance Society, but not further or otherwise, a valuation of the assets and liabilities arising under the Acts of each of the said societies shall be made on such basis as may be prescribed:

AND WHEREAS in exercise of the power conferred on him by sub-section (1) of Section 36 of the Act of 1911, the Minister has appointed the 31st day of December, 1933, as the date on which a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the Unified Society shall be made:

NOW, THEREFORE, the Minister in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sub-section (2) of Section 36 and sub-section (2) of Section 38 of the Act of 1911 and Section 27 of the Act of 1933, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

PART I. I. Interpretation.

*1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Insurance (Valuation) Regulations, 1936.

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:—

"The principal Act" means Parts I and III of the National Insurance Act, 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 55) as amended by any subsequent legislation;

"The Act of 1929" means the National Health Insurance Act, 1929 (Number 42 of 1929);

"The Act of 1933" means the National Health Insurance Act, 1933 (Number 13 of 1933);

"The Acts" means the National Health Insurance Acts, 1911 to 1936;

"The Minister" means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

"Society" means an Approved Society and includes Cumann an Arachais Náisiúnta ar Shláinte (The National Health Insurance Society) established by the Act of 1933, and save as otherwise provided includes also a branch of an Approved Society, but does not include the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund or the Dissolved Societies Fund;

"Member" means a member of a Society for the purposes of the Acts, other than a person who is over the age of 70 at the date of valuation;

"Date of Valuation" means the date as at which the valuation is made;

"Value of benefits" means the present value at the date of valuation of the future liability in respect of the benefits, including additional benefits, to which the members of a Society are entitled, and includes the present value of the future charges in respect of the expenses of administration of benefits;

"Value of contributions" means the present value at the date of valuation of such part of the future contributions payable by or in respect of the members of a Society as is applicable to defraying the cost of benefits and the cost of administration.

(2) These Regulations shall have effect as from the 31st day of December, 1933.

(3) The Interpretation Act, 1923 , applies to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

(4) The National Health Insurance (Valuation) Regulations, 1919 (S. R. & O. 1919, No. 1119), the National Health Insurance (Valuation) Regulations, 1925 (S. R. & O. 1925, No. 33), and the National Health Insurance (Valuation Regulations, 1930 (S. R. & O. 1930, No. 95), are hereby revoked, without prejudice to any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued, or incurred thereunder.

PART II. Valuation of Benefits and Contributions.

3. The value of benefits and the value of contributions shall be estimated on the following basis:—

(i) All members shall, for the purposes of valuation, be treated as though they were entitled to the ordinary benefits and as though the ordinary contributions were payable by or in respect of them, save that in the case of a member entitled to any additional benefit the value of any outstanding liability in respect of that benefit shall be added to the value of the ordinary benefits;

(ii) The value of benefits and the value of contributions shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be calculated by reference to Tables I., II. and III. and, in the case of women, by reference also to Tables IV. and V. in the Schedule to these Regulations;

(iii) Interest shall be calculated at the rate of three per centum per annum;

(iv) Each member of a Society shall be deemed to have been born on the thirtieth day of June—

(a) where the year and month of birth are recorded in the membership register in that year; and

(b) where the year and month of birth are not so recorded, in the year obtained by deducting the age next birthday at entry into insurance from the year of entry, provided that where the number of the member in the membership register ends with an even digit, the year so obtained shall be increased by one;

(v) The charge in respect of Medical Certification shall be assumed to be at the rate of 2/- per annum, and the allowance in respect of expenses of administration of Societies at the rate of 4/5d. per annum in both cases, continuing until the member attains the age of 70.

(vi) For the purpose of calculating the value of contributions it shall be assumed—

(a) that the weekly rate of contribution inclusive of the State Grant referred to in Section 81 (10) of the principal Act, applicable to defraying the cost of benefits and the costs of administration is 6·183d. in the case of a man and 5·605d. in the case of a woman;

(b) that the average number of contributions payable in respect of each year of age will be 49·18 reduced by the average number of weeks of sickness and disablement at the age appropriate to the member as shown by Table II. in the Schedule to these Regulations; and

(c) in the case of women that contributions will not be payable during the period of two weeks before and four weeks after each confinement, the probability of confinement being calculated in accordance with Table III. of the said Schedule;

(vii) In the case of unmarried women and widows the contributions and benefits shall be valued as continuing only until marriage or remarriage, as the case may be, and to the value of the benefits there shall be added in each case the present value of £5 8s. od. accruing at marriage or remarriage, representing the present value of the liability to the member, and to and in respect of the Reserve Suspense Fund under Section 15 of the Act of 1929;

(viii) In the case of employed married women it shall be assumed that one of such women in every ten will be entitled to an additional maternity benefit in respect of her own insurance.

PART III. Valuation of Investments.

4. Credits of a Society in the Investment Account of the Minister and mortgages or bonds on real or heritable security or charged on any rates levied by or on the order or precept of any local authority, shall be taken at the amounts at which they severally stand in the books of the Society, provided that, in the case of mortgages or bonds on real or heritable security, the Society shall be required to produce such evidence as to the value of the security as the valuer may determine to be satisfactory, and such effect shall be given to any depreciation in that value as the circumstances shall appear to him to require.

5. Investments in stocks, debenture stocks, debentures or other securities of the like nature shall be valued at the middle market price at the date of valuation as shown by the Dublin Stock Exchange Daily Stock and Share List or, where the security is not therein quoted, at the market price at the date of valuation, as otherwise shown to the satisfaction of the valuer.

Provided that the value so determined shall be reduced by the amount of any interest accrued but not due at the date of valuation or at the date of the purchase of the security, as the case may be.

PART IV. Sundry Liabilities and Assets.

6. There shall be included among the liabilities of a Society—

(a) any amount due by the Society in respect of claims for benefit which had become payable on or before the date of valuation but had not then been paid;

(b) the appropriate part, if any, having regard to the date of valuation, of any sums debited to the Society by the Minister after such date;

(c) any sums which have accrued but have not become payable in respect of members by reason of their being or having been at or before the date of valuation inmates of hospitals or other institutions referred to in Section 12 of the principal Act;

(d) the value at the date of valuation of any specified sums authorised for expenditure thereafter in a scheme of additional benefits in force at that date;

(e) any balances standing to the credit of the Contingencies Fund, Administration Account and the additional Benefits Accounts;

(f) other sums owing by the Society at the date of valuation.

7. There shall be included among the assets of a Society—

(a) the appropriate part, if any, having regard to the date of valuation, of any sums credited to the Society by the Minister after such date; and

(b) such of the following sums as the circumstances may require: —

(i) any interest on investments which has become due to the Society and is outstanding at the date of valuation, subject to such reduction, if any, as the circumstances may, in the opinion of the valuer, require;

(ii) interest on investments which has accrued up to the date of valuation, but is not then due, subject to the like reduction, if any;

(iii) income tax in respect of interest on investments which has been deducted and is recoverable;

(iv) any balances standing to the debit of the Administration Account, the Benefit Suspense Account, and Additional Benefits Accounts;

(v) such amount as the valuer, having regard to the circumstances of each case, may deem to be the value of any other sums owing to the Society;

(c) any part of the balance in the Administration Account which may be certified by the auditor as having been transferred to the Benefit Fund Account after the date of valuation and before the valuation is completed.

PART V. Application of Parts III. and IV. to Societies with Branches.

8. The provisions of Parts III. and IV. of these Regulations shall have effect in the case of a branch of a Society with such modifications as may be necessary to debit or credit to the branch, as the case may be, its proper proportion of any liabilities, assets or credits of the Society.

PART VI. VI. Miscellaneous.

9. Where the rules of a Society have been amended since the date of valuation and the Minister has consented to the amendment taking effect as from a date not later than the date of valuation, the assets and liabilities of the Society shall be valued as if the amended rules had been in force at the date of valuation.

PART VII. Payment of Capitalised Values in Cases of Deficiency.

10. Where a deficiency has been shown by a valuation of a Society and under a scheme for making good the deficiency a member is liable to a levy payable at intervals, or to a diminution of benefits, the sum which he is required to pay to the Minister in order to relieve himself of the liability to such levy or diminution of benefits, as the case may be, shall be ascertained by reference to Part II. of these Regulations and the Tables in the Schedule thereto, with such modifications, if any, as the circumstances may require.

SCHEDULE.

TABLE I.

LIFE TABLE.

Probability that a person of an exact age as shown in the first column, will survive one year.

TABLE II.

SICKNESS AND DISABLEMENT BENEFITS.

Average number of weeks Sickness and Disablement Benefits payable to member within one year.

The above are "central rates," i.e., the ratios of the total number of weeks of sickness or disablement benefit payable during the year of age following the exact age given in the Table to the number of persons alive in the middle of that year of age,

TABLE III.

MATERNITY BENEFIT.

Probability of issue to a Member during one year.

The above are "central rates,"i.e., the ratios of the number of maternity benefits payable in the year of age following the exact age given in the Table to the number of persons alive in the middle of that year of age.

* Provision for posthumous births is made in the rates applicable to married women and not in the rates applicable to widows.

TABLE IV.

(Applicable to Women only.)

Probabilities of Marriage and of becoming a Widow.

The above are "central rates," e.g., the probability of marriage of a spinster or a widow is the ratio of the number of marriages in a year of age following the exact age given in the Table to the number of spinsters and widows alive in the middle of that year of age.

TABLE V.

Additional liability in respect of a Married Woman for the year of age following the exact age as shown in the first column.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, this ninth day of September, in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty six.

GERALD BOLAND,

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, acting as Agent for the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

* These Regulations supersede the Provisional Regulations entitled the National Health Insurance (Valuation) Regulations, 1936, which were made and came into force on the 26th June, 1936.