Our health

Vote list 9!

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The Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS) needs to be improved and updated to take account of scientific developments on the one hand and social developments on the other. The General Implementing Provisions (GIP) of the JSIS are the basis for the reimbursements granted to civil servants and employees. U4U was the first trade union to ask for their revision;

 

Coverage needs to be extended and reimbursements improved. Indeed, the effective reimbursement rate of medical expenses by the JSIS is no longer 85%. This is due to cost ceilings for care that have not been adapted since 2007. In Belgium the average reimbursement rate is 80%, while the JSIS is below 80%: this means that we reimburse less than the national system of the country where most civil servants are located. These ceilings must be revised in order to achieve an effective reimbursement of 85% again. In addition, the functioning of the Medical Council must be made more transparent;

 

There are several ways to improve the service. More agreements need to be established with the health care structures in the Member States in order to avoid the current overcharging. This would free up substantial budgetary resources to be devoted to this improvement. On the other hand, the funds in the reserve should be used. The reserve can indeed be significantly reduced to extend and increase reimbursements. We do not need a reserve of more than 300 million euros, equivalent to 30 years of annual deficit. In the event of a possible imbalance in the future, which would be partly due to these improvements, it should be remembered that the current rules allow for a very rapid increase in contributions (e.g. an increase of 0.1% in contributions generates an additional income of 10 million euros, which is the average amount of annual deficits). Agreements must be developed between the PMO and Belgian mutual insurance companies, so that, for example, each member of the JSIS who lives in Belgium can establish a global medical file with a doctor, which ensures better patient follow-up;

 

Furthermore, CAMR interventions must be consistent with the policies developed today by the European Union, which speak of both prevention and resilience. Where they exist, these interventions must cover colleagues according to need and without discrimination. They must take better account of advances in preventive medicine, such as new mental health needs. There is a need to continue to provide quality care for dependency;

 

The budget for the Commission's social policy must be reinforced to support colleagues with a disability or a disabled or special needs beneficiary whose expenses are not reimbursed either under the JSIS or under national aid. Indeed, let us recall two things that put these colleagues in great difficulties: 1) 80% of disabilities occur throughout life (accident, illness etc.) and 2) as agents of the European civil service, many national aids are not accessible to us. The Commission's social policy budget must take these realities into account;

 

Given the widespread use of telework and the expected implementation of new "hybrid" modes of work, there is an urgent need to ensure that occupational health and safety standards are met equally regardless of the mode of work (office, telework...). The risks associated with hyper connectivity and digital overload must be taken into account;

 

As part of the "new HR strategy", the Administration is considering a better policy for returning from long-term illness. At present, once the threshold of one year of sick leave is reached, an invalidity scheme is offered if one cannot return to work. However, there are situations in which adequate early support could have prevented the extension of sick leave or even entry into "invalidity". For these situations, we support the desire expressed in the new HR strategy to put in place such adequate and coherent support (improved ergonomics, adaptation of working hours, etc.). In general, we are in favour of a return policy, where possible;

 

To improve access to medical care for JSIS members in all EU countries, it would be useful to have a European social protection card that is recognised in all Member States as a minimum. This would facilitate the provision of care and reimbursement. The pandemic has reminded us that civil servants and other staff do not have the same access to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) as other European citizens, because the JSIS is considered to be an extra-national scheme which is not coordinated with the social security schemes of the Member States.