A police officer changed his primary care doctor four times in a year and a half to take sick leave, is one of the examples of abuses cited by the director of the Health Insurance Fund (HIF), SashoKlekovski.
At the request of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the Fund checked 80 people with a total of 514 sick leaves. Of these, 258 sick leaves were up to 7 days, 171 up to 15 days and 83 lasted 30 or more days.
“This is important because only those over 15 days enter the field of attention of the Health Insurance Fund, because over 15 days should be referred to a commission,” said Klekovski.
The most common diagnoses for sick leaves were respiratory diseases, problems with the muscular system and digestive disorders.
Of the 80 checked people, irregularities were found in 29 people (37 percent). Out of a total of 514 sick leaves, 100 were issued irregularly, which is almost every fifth sick leave.
