-up by 88% over 2021
During 2022, 4,952 maternity claims were paid by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to 4,855 employed and 97 self-employed women.
This is according to the NIS’ annual report for 2022. The age-distribution of the recipients shows that 1,119 or approximately 22.6% were in the age-group (16-25) years, 1,697 or approximately 34.3% were in the age-group (26-30) years and 1,328 or approximately 26.8% were in the 31-35 range. Further, 624 or approximately 12.6% were in the age-group (36-40) years and 176 or approximately 3.5% were in the age-group (41-45) years. The remaining 8 or approximately 0.2% were in the age-group (46-50) years.
The ages of the recipients ranged from 18 years to 47 years and their average age was 30 years. The report said that the distribution of cases paid by benefit days shows that all 4,952 persons received normal maternity allowances, that is, payment up to a maximum of 13 benefit weeks.
Of the 4,952 cases, 38 or approximately 0.8% were paid for the full period of 13 weeks, 2,686 or approximately 54.2% were paid for periods ranging from 3 weeks to 12 weeks and 2,228 or approximately 45.0% were paid for periods ranging from 1 day to 18 days. The average amount of Maternity Allowance was $132,641. and the average duration was 42 benefit days. During 2021, the report said that 2,638 claims for maternity allowance were paid. The 2022 total of 4,952 represents an increase of approximately 87.7%.
Further, 2,233 claims for Maternity Grant were processed during 2022. Of this amount, 1,922 were paid to claimants who qualified for the benefit in their own right and 311 were not paid. The report said that an analysis of the claims which were not paid revealed that 11 duplicate claims were submitted, three were disqualified for late submission and 120 did not provide sufficient information for the claim to be processed. Further, seven did not satisfy the contribution requirement for the receipt of the benefit and 38 claimants were not entitled to maternity grant since they were paid medical care. Another nine of the claims were logged in error, five were not entitled to medical care and 118 were transferred/closed.
Industrial Death Pensions
The report also disclosed that six Industrial Death Pensions were awarded during 2022. The recipients were two widows who had children of the deceased in their care, two widows over 45 years without children, one parent and one orphan. The ages of the deceased ranged from 19 years to 58 years. Their average age was 45 years. The ages of the widows ranged from 32 years to 55 years. The ages of the children who were included in the benefit ranged from 2 years to 12 years. At the time of death, the deceased persons were employed in industries outside of the sugar sector.
An examination of the nature of injury which resulted in the deaths shows that the deceased persons had suffered from multiple injuries.
The NIS saw a 16.5% rise in income for 2022 and a hefty boost to its insurance fund. The 2023 report is not yet available.
In previous years, the NIS had faced a grave deficiency in income amid growing expenses. There has however been a turnaround for 2022 and this is being linked to the increased collections due to the growth of jobs in the oil and gas industry where salaries are generally higher.
According to the report, total income for 2022 was $32.1b which reflected a 16.5% growth over the 2021 figure. The benefits paid for the year rose by 5.15% to $30.4b. The total expenditure for 2022 was $32.2b which left a deficit of $98m but much improved over the previous year when the deficit was $3.9b.
There was a whopping gain on revaluation of fair value on investments which left the National Insurance Fund at $43.2b. The figure at the end of 2021 was $29.8b.
