‘Too sick to go to work’ claims cost €600m... but checks cut
THE number of medical check-ups on people who claim social welfare for being too sick to work almost halved last year, even though they cost the taxpayer around €600million a year.
While more than 200,000 people continue to receive the payment, the Department of Social Protection only carried out 16,614 reviews in 2016, compared to 31,832 in 2015.
The number of people claiming Illness Benefit – which can amount to as much as €188 a week – but who were proven fit to work when examined by a doctor also dropped to 1,731, compared to 2,777 the previous year.
The total State expenditure on Illness Benefit came to €597million, with 209,685 claims paid, according to department figures. The number of claims received the year before was similar, with 209,750 getting the payment at a cost of €620million.
ISME, the small and medium business group, said: ‘Our issue is the total number of people claiming Illness Benefit, which is extraordinarily high, especially when compared to other countries. In certain cases people receive disability allowance for conditions most employers would not consider to constitute a disability, such as illiteracy.
‘Our concern is that claimants are induced not to work, due to the Illness Benefit, and, in some cases, the easy process to receive the benefit. How are we to induce people on the benefit to return to work?
‘The difficulty with people going to reviews is that, with certain conditions, they will be allowed keep their benefit, for example if a person is claiming benefits due to illiteracy. Even if they go through a review by the Department of Social Protection they are not going to lose their Illness Benefit.
‘The entire policy and application for Illness Benefit needs to be reconsidered. It is extraordinary to have that amount of people on Illness Benefit, considering that we have the youngest population in Europe. It beggars belief.
‘While we appreciate the potential difficulties GPs have with people presenting themselves, claiming they are unfit for work, it is apparent there is an element of self-diagnosis by patients.
‘This is a policy issue that has to be looked at, perhaps GPs should not be used by people applying for Illness Benefit. People should have to attend a Department of Social Protection occupational health practitioner.’
People applying for Illness Benefit must get their GP or a hospital doctor to fill out a form indicating why they can’t work due to sickness. Claimants must get approval from the department, which is headed by Minister Regina Doherty, to receive the benefit. A claim can be reviewed by the State and the claimant called to undergo an assessment by a doctor for the department. A claimant must attend for a medical assessment when asked, or their benefit will be suspended.
If a person’s payment is stopped because a doctor deems them fit to work they can appeal the decision.
Some of the most common illnesses claimed for include depression, stress, back and neck problems, arthritis, bereavement, post-natal depression, cancer and hyper- tension. A spokeswoman for the department said: ‘The drop in Illness Benefit reviews from 2015 to 2016 is accounted for by an increased focus during 2016 on the processing of new claim applications for disability and caring-related schemes, against a backdrop of increased claim levels across these scheme areas.’
The spokeswoman said the key objective of the Medical Review & Assessment Service (MRAS) is to provide medical opinions to assist Deciding Officers in deciding illness/disability/caring-related claims.
Assessments are conducted by Medical Assessors on both short-term Illness Benefit, where the claim is already in payment, having been medically certified by a GP, and on new applications for long-term schemes, such as Invalidity Pension, Disability Allowance, carers, etc, where medical evidence is supplied for the MA to review.
The focus of the MRAs is to ensure claims are processed as quickly as possible so vulnerable people experiencing illness or a disability or those who are caring for children with a disability are not left without the financial support required, she said.
michelle.okeeffe@dailymail.ie
‘Disability payout for illiteracy’ ‘GPs should not be used’