09.04.2021

THE QUARANTINE PATIENT WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM THE GENERAL LIMIT

Quarantine due to Covid-19 and other diseases will no longer be included in the limit for days on sick leave. This is provided by changes in the Ordinance on medical expertise, proposed by the Ministry of Health.

The texts are published on the public consultation portal strategy.bg. The deadline for their discussion is May 5.

Currently, the sick leave, which is issued for quarantine, is within the total limit of 180 days per year. This makes it difficult for people who are or have been in long-term hospitalization due to other illnesses, forcing them to appear before a medical commission and the territorial expert medical commissions (TEMC).

With a change in the transitional and final provisions of the ordinance, the texts of the Regulations for the structure and organization of work of the bodies of the medical expertise and of the regional files of the medical expertises are amended. The new text stipulates that hospital quarantines may be issued by GPs even in cases where patients have used long-term sick leave due to another illness, excluding quarantine from the general hospital limit. Such an exception is currently provided only for the 135 days of sick leave, incl. The 45 days before birth, which are issued for the birth and upbringing of a child.

Limits for days on sick leave

The ordinance on medical expertise stipulates that GPs may single-handedly issue sick leaves for up to 40 days within a calendar year.

For a longer hospital stay - up to 180 days for one calendar year and 360 days used in two years, patients appear before medical advisory commissions, and for over 180 days - before the territorial expert medical commissions (TEMC).

At the same time, the ordinance stipulates that the hospital for quarantine for Covid or another contagious disease must be issued by the personal doctor alone.

Due to the regulations, problems arise for people who have exhausted their sick leave limit due to another illness or disability. In practice, these people are forced to violate the prescriptions of the health authorities in order to appear before the expert commissions, and the purpose of the quarantine is to prevent the spread of the contagious disease, the Ministry of Health said in the reasons for the changes.