Health Insurance Fund approves new rules for determining sick leave in Macedonia

The Governing Board of the Health Insurance Fund has approved amendments to the regulation establishing the criteria for granting sick leave. According to the Fund, these changes affect neither the right to sick leave nor its duration in cases where it is justified by the patient’s health condition.

The Health Insurance Fund emphasizes that reducing the period from seven to five days does not mean that sick leave will automatically end on the fifth day. After this period, if the patient still needs leave, its continuation will be determined based on medical criteria related to the relevant diagnosis.

The family doctor’s authority to grant sick leave for up to 15 days remains unchanged. The changes aim to simplify administrative procedures and expand the possibility of determining sick leave electronically, as well as retroactively.

According to the Health Insurance Fund, the new rules were drafted following a months-long professional analysis of the criteria that had been in force.