According to the results of the inspection carried out by authorized specialists, the Pension Fund of Ukraine will have the right to demand from medical institutions the elimination of detected violations or the return of funds paid for the certificate of incapacity for work, if it is recognized as unfounded. Verkhovna Rada supported the relevant draft law.
The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading draft law No. 13062, which provides for changes to the Law “On Mandatory State Social Insurance”. The initiators were a group of people’s deputies, including Davyd Arakhamia, Halyna Tretyakova, Mykhailo Radutsky and others. The document is aimed at improving the procedure for issuing, extending and controlling the validity of sick leave certificates.
The project envisages the possibility of returning insurance payments in the event that the issued certificate of incapacity for work is found to be unfounded. Only authorized doctors with appropriate qualifications and work experience will be able to check medical reports on temporary incapacity for work. The draft law clarifies the process of carrying out such inspections, as well as defines the decision-making mechanism on the validity or unreasonability of a medical opinion, which will affect the formation of the Pension Fund’s requirements for medical institutions.
In September 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a new version of the Law “On Mandatory State Social Insurance”, which entered into force on January 1, 2023. Since that time, assistance in connection with the temporary loss of working capacity is provided on the basis of an electronic medical report issued by a doctor in the health care system.
According to the deputies, it is necessary to legislate the process of checking such conclusions and documents, which are the basis for creating leaves of incapacity for work. It is assumed that only specially authorized doctors will be able to conduct these inspections, making decisions that will later become the basis for actions by the Pension Fund — in particular, to eliminate violations or return funds.
