Notre santé

 

The Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme – JSIS – must be improved and updated to take into account the evolution of science on the one hand, and the evolution of society on the other. The general implementing provisions (DGE) of the JSIS are the basis for the reimbursements granted to officials and other servants. U4U was the first union to call for their review;

 

Coverage needs to be expanded, and reimbursements improved. Indeed, the effective reimbursement rate for medical expenses by the JSIS is no longer 85%. In question, fee 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 it is reimbursed less well than the national system of the country where most civil servants are located. These ceilings must be revised in order to arrive again at an effective reimbursement of 85%. In addition, the functioning of the Medical Council must tend towards greater transparency;

 

To improve the service, we have several ways. More agreements need to be established with Member States' health care facilities to avoid current overbilling. This would make it possible to release substantial budgetary resources to devote to this improvement. On the other hand, the funds from the reserve must be used. The reserve can be significantly reduced to extend and increase repayments. We do not need a reserve of more than EUR 300 million, equivalent to the equivalent of a 30- year annual deficit. In the event of a possible imbalance in the future, which would be due in part to these improvements, it should be remembered that the current rules allow contributions to be slightly increased very quickly (for example, a 0.1% increase in contributions generates an additional income of 10 million euros, i.e., the average amount of annual deficits). Agreements must be developed between the PMO and the mutual insurance companies of the different sites, so that, for example, each member of the JSIS can establish a global medical file with a doctor, which ensures better follow-up of the patient;

 

In addition, JSIS interventions must be consistent with the policies developed today by the European Union, which speak of both prevention and resilience. Where they exist, such interventions should cover colleagues on an as-needed basis and without discrimination. They need to better take into account advances in preventive medicine, such as emerging mental health needs. It is necessary to continue to ensure quality care for dependency;

 

The budget for social policy needs to be strengthened to support colleagues with a disability or a beneficiary with a disability or special need and whose expenses are not reimbursed either under the JSIS or as part of national aid. Indeed, let us remember two things that put these colleagues in great difficulty: 1) 80% of disabilities occur throughout life (accident, illness etc.) and

2) as employees of the European civil service, many national aids are not accessible to us.

The social policy budget must take these realities into account;

 

Given the generalization of teleworking and the implementation of new “hybrid" modes of work, it is urgent to ensure that occupational health and safety standards are respected equally regardless of the way of working (office, telework, etc.). The risks associated with hyper-connectivity and digital overload must be considered;

 

The Administration should consider a better return policy after a long-term illness. At present, once the threshold of one year of sick leave has been reached, a disability scheme is proposed if one cannot return to work. However, there are situations in which adequate early support could have avoided the extension of sick leave, or even the entry into “disability". For these situations, we recommend the implementation of such adequate and coherent support (improved ergonomics, adaptation of working time, etc.). In general, we are in favour of a return policy, where possible;

 

In order to improve access to medical care for CAMR members in all EU countries, it would be useful to have a European Social Protection Card that is recognised at least in all Member States. It would facilitate coverage and reimbursements. Indeed, the pandemic has reminded us that civil servants and agents do not have access like other European citizens to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) because the Page 20 from 21 JSIS is considered an extra-national scheme that is not coordinated with the