Health surcharge introduction being considered

Alex Allinson said a recommendation whether to mirror the UK or not would be made in May

The introduction of a fee to access healthcare to be paid by people who move to the Isle of Man on a visa is still under consideration, the Treasury Minister has said.

It follows a report on migration incentives and disincentives debated by Tynwald last week, with recommendations arising from the document due to be brought forward in May.

Alex Allinson MHK told the House of Keys that a decision on whether or not to introduce a health surcharge to mirror the UK would be within those proposals.

The recent report noted that the absence of the levy on the island was an "unintended incentive to potential immigrants with greater healthcare needs", he said.

The Manx government would look at the possibilities of mirroring the UK, and work with counterparts to see "how we can get a fair system for immigration that corresponds with the needs of the Isle of Man", he said.

'Digitalisation'

Allinson told MHKs the potential introduction of the levy was "not straightforward" and would require the extension of UK legislation to the island.

If a surcharge were to be introduced, the ambition would be for the payment to be made directly to the island, however operational and digital mechanisms would need to be developed to allow that, he said.

David Ashford questioned whether discussions on the introduction of the levy would also cover the systems that need to be developed, and if the UK's systems could be used on the island.

In response, Allinson said there was a "huge" amount of work in the digitalisation of immigration processes and there was a large amount of investment "to twin our systems with the UK so that Isle of Man residents were not disadvantaged" when travelling.

If the policy mirrored the UK it would be paid annually for the period that an individual's visa is operational, which was currently £1,035 a year, he said.