$60M Insurance bill, $33.8m paid out

The Government, over eight years, has spent about $60 million in taxpayers’ money on welfare insurance.

However, only $33.8m was paid out to beneficiaries; Parliament was told yesterday. Minister for Women, Children and Social Pro-tection Sashi Kiran said the figures showed the scheme was no longer an efficient way of delivering assistance to vulnerable Fijians.

She said Government paid around $60m in premiums to FijiCare Insurance since the scheme began in 2018, while beneficiaries received only $33.8m in direct claims.

“On average, a mere 56 per cent of the total funds paid out by the Government ended up in the hands of the beneficiaries,” Ms Kiran said.

She said the remaining 44 per cent was absorbed by administration, overheads and private corporate margins.

The figures show Government paid $7.1m in premiums in 2023-24 but received only $3.8m in claims.

In 2024-25, $7.2m was paid in premiums, with $3.8m paid out.

Last financial year, premiums rose to $7.7m, while claims dropped to $3m.

Ms Kiran said the scheme covered about 100,000 welfare recipients but processed an average of only 5000 claims each year.

“That means 95 per cent of the covered population see no tangible benefit in any given year, she said.

The scheme provided assistance for funerals, personal accidents and fire.

Ms Kiran said Government had now suspended the scheme and would review it, with a focus on stronger controls and ensuring assistance reached people who actually needed it.

Therefore, Government has allocated $184m for six social protection programmes in the 2026-27 financial year.

This includes more than $82m for the Social Pension Scheme, $46.4m for the Family Assistance Scheme and more than $18m each for child protection and disability allow-ances.

Ms Kiran said assistance for fire victims, accidents and other emergencies would also continue through existing government pro-grammes.