Last week, concrete proposals were finally made on how health insurance for students could be improved, with the publication of the first interim report of the Safer and More Effective Studies inquiry.
This week, it was announced that the proposal for SGI protection for students will be presented as a bill to the Riksdag. We have previously written about the proposal when the memorandum was sent out.
If all the proposed changes go through, the situation for students will improve, but there is still much to be done and the work will continue, including in the consultation process. Below, the partial review's proposal is briefly commented on based on the requirements previously set by SFS.
Part-time sick leave – 25, 50, 75%
Students will finally be able to take part-time sick leave! In addition to the current option of taking full-time sick leave, the inquiry proposes to allow sick leave of one quarter, half and three quarters. Students who are sick will receive the full amount of their study grant, but the student loan will be written off based on the degree to which the student is on sick leave. In addition, the time that a student is entitled to study grant during illness is not included in the total number of weeks for which study grant may be granted.
Health insurance continues to be linked to student funding
The commission's directive limits the possibilities of proposing a health insurance system that is not linked to the study fund. SFS will continue to work for a system where everyone is health insured. It is important that all students, regardless of how they choose to finance their studies, have health insurance that guarantees a secure period of study.
14 waiting days instead of today's 30
The inquiry proposes a waiting period of 14 days for students. One of the arguments is that it should not be possible to have student loans written off without the illness being confirmed by a doctor's certificate. Today, students can prove their illness after 14 days, instead of seven days as for most other citizens. SFS hopes that the government will propose that the time for a doctor's certificate for students be reduced to seven days and that the waiting period can thus be reduced to the same.
Rehabilitation responsibility is clarified
The inquiry assesses that, according to current regulations, educational providers already have a responsibility for rehabilitation of a study-oriented nature. In order to guarantee that students actually have access to the rehabilitation to which they are entitled, the inquiry proposes that the Swedish Work Environment Authority be tasked with developing guidelines in consultation with educational providers or clarifying educational providers' rehabilitation responsibilities in another appropriate way. We view positively that the already existing rehabilitation responsibility is clarified so that it also works in practice and that it does not become dependent on the higher education institution or education.
The full interim report is available here. and will be commented on in more detail by us in connection with the referral.