Health insurance savings brake on sickness benefit

Health insurances push insured people to work despite sick leave

07/01/2014

Insureds are apparently at the urging of their health insurance always go back to work despite sick leave. This goes to information from the news agency „dpa“ from the current one „Monitor patient consultation 2014“ for which the Independent Patient Counseling Germany (UPD) anonymously evaluated around 80,000 consultations.

Monitor 2014 reveals abnormalities and problems in patient counseling
Working despite sick leave? Again and again, the statutory health insurance companies seem to push their members to the workplace, even though they had been issued in advance by the doctor a certificate of incapacity. This result goes chewing the „dpa“ from the current one „Monitor patient consultation 2014“ Independent Patient Advice Germany (UPD), which will be presented to the public on Tuesday. For its report, the UPD had anonymously evaluated around 80,000 consultations and obtained an overview of abnormalities, important topics and frequent problems in patient counseling.

In particular, patients affected with mental health problems
According to this, people with mental health problems in the context of anonymous counseling would repeatedly report problems in connection with sick leave. As the UPD managing director Sebastian Schmidt-Kaehler had already reported to dpa a few weeks ago, it would often happen that sick leave patients would still be forced to work from their cash register. Similar results have already been achieved „Monitor patient consultation“ The latter had documented that according to the UPD between April 2012 and March 2013, almost 4,800 complaints on the subject „sick pay“ were received. Already here the question was in the foreground, when insured persons would have the right to sick pay and how this should be enforced by the patients.

Complaints also with Federal Commissioner for data protection
As the dpa further reports, the VdK also has information on many such cases, as well as the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, which has received complaints of this kind. Accordingly, the Greens warn of the consequences of the planned reform of health insurance finances, because this could be the restrictive behavior of the funds even more aggravated.

sick leave „until further notice "can secure the right to sick pay
The behavior of the cash registers does not seem to be an underestimated problem, because „In the consultation, we see that many patients do not know their rights, let alone demand them “, so Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Kaehler. For example, according to the VdK, a sick leave that is issued by the doctor "until further notice" could secure the right to sick pay - even if the employment had expired, for example because of a time limit, notice of termination or retirement age. According to this, the Landessozialgericht (LSG) Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart ruled in a judgment of 21 January 2014 (file reference: L 11 KR 4174/12) that such a sick leave does not automatically expire at the end of a period of approval for sick pay. Instead, if employees become ill before the end of their employment and submit a certificate, they would continue to be entitled to sickness benefits. However, according to the social association VdK, in such cases, patients should be careful to ensure that ongoing sick leave always relates to the same diagnosis. (No)