- It is a very special situation.
I can understand that unreasonable situations can arise for individuals, but such is the legislation and we can not change it for a special group, she says.
According to the health insurance rules, those who have been ill for more than 180 days must be tested against the entire labor market.
This means that a person may need to change career path completely, as the Swedish Social Insurance Agency does not grant sick leave if there is another job that the person on sick leave can perform.
- It is tough legislation that places great demands on adjustment, says Terese Östlin.
A bill has now been introduced to mitigate the effects of those affected.
Instead of 180 days, the employee should be able to get 365 days to return to work.
If the law is approved, it can take effect in March.
Decision support is lacking
In the spring, the National Board of Health and Welfare produced decision support for those who suffered from severe covid-19 and ended up on a respirator.
A decision support contains, among other things, guidelines for care about which sick leave periods are recommended for various diseases.
There is no similar decision support for those who have suffered from long-term symptoms after covid-19.
According to an assessment made by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency in early autumn, hundreds of people risked being uninsured due to symptoms after covid-19.
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency does not know for sure exactly how many have been affected.
But 600-700 were at risk in September and another 500 in October.
- We have a government assignment to show what happened in health insurance during covid-19.
That report comes in January.
Then we know how many have been affected.