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Welsh Statutory Instruments

2009 No. 709 (W.61)

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, WALES

The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Wales) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2009

Made

16 March 2009

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales

16 March 2009

Coming into force

6 April 2009

The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 130, 131, 132 and 203(9) and (10) of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006(1), hereby make the following Regulations:

Title, commencement, application and interpretation

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Wales) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2009.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 6 April 2009.

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

(4) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” (“y prif Reoliadau”) means the National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2007(2).

Amendment of regulation 5 of the principal Regulations

2.  In regulation 5 of the principal Regulations (entitlement to full remission and payment), in paragraph (1), for “£15,050” substitute “£15,276”.

Amendment of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

3.  In Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (Modifications of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987), in column 2 of Table A, in the entry relating to regulation 53, for “£19,000” substitute “£20,750”.

Edwina Hart

Minister for Health and Social Services, one of the Welsh Ministers

16 March 2009

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2007 (“the principal Regulations”).

The principal Regulations make provision so that persons who are either in receipt of certain state benefits of who are on a low income are able to obtain the remission or repayment of certain charges which would otherwise be payable under the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (“NHS charges”) and the payment of travelling expenses incurred in obtaining certain NHS services (“NHS travelling expenses”).

In calculating a person’s resources and requirements under the principal Regulations in order to establish whether a person can claim entitlement to the remission of NHS charges and the payment of NHS travelling expenses, a modified version of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 is applied.

Regulation 2 increases the amount of income which a person in receipt of tax credits may receive whilst remaining entitled to full remission and payment under regulation 5 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 3 makes changes to the capital limits used for calculating entitlement to remission and payment by increasing the lower capital limit from £19,000 to £20,750 for people living permanently in care homes.

(2)

S.I. 2007/1104 (W.116); relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2008/1480 (W.153), 1879 and 2568 (W.226).