To ask the Minister of Health whether he has any plans to streamline access to ophthalmic and other services away from application of an HC1 form, which can take up to eight weeks to process, for those in receipt of Universal Credit.

Entitlement to assistance with health costs is generally based on low income or on receipt of some social security benefits set out in legislation (The Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charge Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004). At present this does not include Universal Credit.

It is necessary to make amendments to the legislation to include Universal Credit recipients with incomes below specified thresholds. It had not been possible to make the required changes to the legislation due to the absence of the NI Assembly in the first instance and then the ongoing need to respond to Covid-19.

An interim measure has been to use the existing Low Income Scheme (LIS) administered by the Department for Communities. This scheme provides a safety net for patients who do not automatically receive full help with the cost of their healthcare, but who have a low income and who therefore face difficulty meeting the cost of their health service treatment. The LIS involves an extra administrative burden for patients in the completion of an HC1 form, but one that cannot be avoided in the absence of regulatory change.

As soon as capacity permits officials will assess the options for a longer term solution. This will need to balance providing an equivalent level of coverage to that which existed prior to the introduction of Universal Credit, with minimising the impact on the budget or adding a significant administrative burden on either the individual or the processing agency