CORONAVÍRUS Slovaks, beware of this change: Pandemic PN is a thing of the past, this is how it will be new! – Topky.sk

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Pandemic sickness benefit from 1 December 2021 expires. Insured persons who are recognized as temporarily incapacitated by the treating doctor due to a quarantine measure / isolation will receive standard sickness benefit as it is also for other reasons temporary incapacity for work (illness, injury).

Insured persons whose incapacity for work (PN) due to the quarantine measure / isolation will arise in November and will continue in December will continue to receive from the Social Insurance Agency the so-called pandemic sick leave until the end of the PN. The insurance company itself claims this in its statement.

Procedures do not change

With the ordered quarantine / isolation, in the event of incapacity for work, the policyholder’s procedure from 1 December 2021 will be the same as before in the so-called pandemic sickness. The insured first by telephone, e-mail or SMS message contact your doctor.

The doctor will assess whether he is subject to quarantine in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Public Health Office and, if the patient so requests, will issue a certificate of temporary incapacity for work. The doctor sends the PN confirmation form directly to the Social Insurance Agency. The policyholder-employee also remains obliged to inform his employer about the PN.

If the incapacity for work was due to an ordered quarantine measure / isolation confirmed during a personal visit to the patient at the doctor, the insured claims for sickness benefitin the standard way – the employee hands over the PN certificate to the employer, SZČO and the voluntary sickness insured delivers it to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency.

This is how sickness benefit is paid

For the first 10 days of incapacity for work, the employee is paid income compensation by his employer, while from the 1st to the 3rd day of the PN the employee is entitled to an income compensation of 25% of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) and from the 4th to the 10th day it is 55% of the DVZ. The social insurance company pays sickness benefits from the 11th day of temporary incapacity for work in the amount of 55% of the DVZ until the end of the PN by a doctor. In the case of SZČO and the voluntarily insured, the Social Insurance Agency pays the sickness benefit from the 1st day of incapacity for work (the first 3 days 25% DVZ and from the 4th day 55% DVZ).

For quarantine and isolation, don’t forget this form as well

Also from 1 December 2021, in the case of PN, due to quarantine / isolation confirmed by a doctor “remotely”, it is important that policyholders do not forget to send an electronic claim. During the transitional period, they will continue to use the current form available on the e-Forms Portal. This form will also be used by those who additionally request the payment of a pandemic sickness benefit. The social insurance company is preparing a new e-form, which will be available in the coming days and will inform the public about it in time.

This method of application – via the e-form – only serves for cases of incapacity for work due to quarantine / isolation, ie not for normal cases of incapacity for work due to illness or injury.

What about SZČO?

Self-employed persons and voluntary sickness insurance should complete and send the benefit application form immediately after the PN is issued to the doctor, either remotely or in person. Employees will only send the e-form if the PN will take more than 10 days due to quarantine / isolation.

In the case of a common PN for other illnesses or injuries, the application for the benefit – the form of incapacity for work – is confirmed by a doctor, signed by the insured and also confirmed by the employer. If the doctor usually issues a PN form “remotely” due to the patient’s quarantine / isolation, the application is not signed by the policyholder, so an electronic application must also be sent. The social insurance company then decides on the entitlement to the benefit.

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The conditions remain the same

The conditions for entitlement to the benefit also do not change. These include:
– the existence of sickness insurance on the day of the temporary incapacity for work (for all groups of insured persons – employees, self-employed persons and voluntarily sickness insured persons – DNPO),
– payment of health insurance premiums in the correct amount and on time, with a tolerated arrears of less than 5 € (SZČO and DNPO only),
– absence of income during incapacity for work (employee only)
– 270 days of sickness insurance in the last two years before the onset of temporary incapacity for work (DNPO only).

From the beginning of the pandemic in the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 October 2021, the Social Insurance Agency paid a total of more than 3,230,000 sickness benefits, of which more than 860,000 were pandemic sickness benefits.