$43.2 million in Supplementary Expenditure approved in Finance Committee

Members of Parliament approved $43.2 million in supplementary expenditure requests for the Cayman Islands Government’s 2025 financial year in Finance Committee on Friday, 6 June.

Minister of Finance Hon. Rolston Anglin chaired the Finance Committee proceedings, and presented Section 12 Supplementary Expenditure requests totalling $43.2 million for the 2025 financial year.

This amount included:

• $14.4 million for TP 41 Financial Assistance, which includes financial assistance payments for individuals and families receiving temporary and long-term financial assistance;

• $8.25 million for HEA 2 Medical care for Indigents, which includes the provision of medical care to indigent patients including primary care, secondary care services, dental and mental health care; and

• $20.5 for NGS 55 Tertiary Care at Various Local and Overseas Institutions, which includes the provision of tertiary health care for indigents, seamen and veterans who are referred for treatment locally and overseas.

Minister Anglin noted the urgency of the requests in response to a call from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition Kenneth Bryan to move the proceedings to a later date, revealing that the supplemental funding was necessary to allow the respective Ministries involved to make payments, as the previously allocated budget in these areas was now fully depleted.

Turning the committee’s attention first to the $14.4 million requested for TP 41 Financial Assistance, Minister Anglin noted that as of April 2025, there were 1,724 households that received financial assistance from the Government.  Of those, 1,095 persons received long-term financial assistance – which is paid from the TP 41 Financial Assistance appropriation.

The Finance Minister explained that the Government provides financial assistance to eligible Caymanians for a variety of expenses, including food, accommodation, utilities, burial assistance, clothing, transportation, internet, phone, and support for children, such as pre-school assistance, camps, after-school care, school uniforms, shoes and other supplies.

Long-term financial assistance is also provided to older persons and adults with permanent disabilities.

Minister Anglin noted that the Ministry of Social Development and Innovation has confirmed that the 2025 appropriation for TP 41 Financial Assistance is fully exhausted and that no more financial assistance payments could be made until the supplementary request was approved.

The Finance Minister said the depletion of the Financial Assistance appropriation over the 2024 and 2025 budget period could be attributed to a number of reasons, including:

• A February 2024 decision to increase the amount of financial assistance provided for accommodation, food, and utilities along with the introduction of financial assistance for rental deposits, internet and transportation;

• In July 2024, an additional $400 was given to recipients of long-term financial assistance and those who receive financial assistance for food in order to prepare for the hurricane season and the arrival of Hurricane Beryl;

• In July 2024, bus wardens and bus drivers who are employed by outsourced bus companies received a one-time summer stipend of $2,700 per recipient when schools were closed and wardens and drivers were not required to work; and

• In December 2024, an additional holiday stipend of $500 was given to all recipients that received long-term financial assistance.

Minister Anglin said, “The additional $14.4 million that is being requested today, is the amount that is needed to meet the projected expenditure to the end of this year. Hon. Members, not approving the $14.4 million in supplementary funding means that over 1,700 households will not receive financial assistance – starting the end of this month.”

Regarding the requests for supplementary funding for $20.5 million for NGS 55 (Tertiary Care at Various Local and Overseas Institutions) and $8.25 million for HEA 2 (Medical care for Indigents), Minister Anglin said, “Supplementary funding is being sought to ensure that there is adequate funding to continue coverage of recipients under these programmes and to prevent any disruption of the provision of these vital primary and secondary healthcare services.”

He noted that the monthly average number of covered indigent members has been increasing, with the number of indigents currently totalling over 2,300 at the end of March 2025.

Minister Anglin said, “The 2025 budgets for the appropriations continue to be inadequate, not only due to the growing medical needs of persons, but also due to the increasing number of recipients and the escalating costs of tertiary healthcare. The original 2025 Budget for NGS 55 totalled $14.426 million.  This amount was fully exhausted at the end of April 2025.  The projected expenditure for NGS 55 for 2025 is approximately $55.5 million.”

He explained that only $20.537 million was being requested as supplementary funding at this session of Finance Committee, but the Government intends to return later in the year to request the balance of funding required.

Specifically regarding HEA 2, which covers primary and secondary healthcare services, as well as dental and mental healthcare services for indigents, Minister Anglin noted that the original 2025 budget totalled $12 million, with a further $4.5 million being funded from the Segregated Insurance Fund to supplement the cost. 

He said, “This amount is going to be exhausted by the end of July 2025.  The projected expenditure for HEA 2 for 2025 is approximately $28.5 million. At this time, only $8.25 million is being requested as supplementary funding, but the Government intends to return later in the year for the balance of funding that is going to be needed for the remainder of the year.”

Minister Anglin advised that since costs for NGS 55 are paid by Cayman Islands National Insurance Company (CINICO) up front, and costs for HEA 2 are covered by the Health Services Authority (HSA) and then reimbursed by the Ministry of Health through the relevant appropriations, any delays in the reimbursement of costs to CINICO and HSA have an adverse impact on their cash flow and ability to pay local and overseas healthcare institutions.

He also noted that any delays in payment may result in indigents, seafarers and veterans not receiving critical care as and when needed, and that not approving the NGS 55 and HEA 2 supplementary funding requests would delay or deny necessary medical care for indigents, presenting a potential liability to the Government.

Following several questions from Opposition members, primarily focusing on budgeting procedures and reviews of programmes and services, the items were all put to a vote and the requested funding was approved.

Premier Hon. Andre Ebanks had some closing comments before the proceedings wrapped up.

He thanked the MPs for attending on short notice “given the urgency of the matter of delivering essential services to our people”.

The Premier said the two overarching points he took from the Committee’s discussions were that social development and health budgets must be more realistic moving forward, and that system changes are needed to “rationalize services to make sure that they’re as efficient as possible and also make sure that we’re making prudent decisions.”

He said, “We’re going to have to make harder decisions to make these budget items realistic and long-lasting to serve the overall best interest of the country.”

A full recording of Finance Committee proceedings on Friday, 6 June 2025 may be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/live/tYTc6g4euPQ?si=eXtfcX3d5XteRWsB