More than half of long-term sick patients examined in Belgium were found capable of working, according to the findings of a long-secret official report.
The report was obtained by the investigative team of Het Laatste Nieuws through whistleblowers.
Inspectors had discovered that mutual insurance funds were overly generous with sickness benefits, and even the Minister of Social Affairs, Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), was unaware of the report’s existence for years.
In late 2019, three medical inspectors from the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Inami) evaluated hundreds of cases of long-term patients.
The investigation involved 290 Belgians who had been recently designated as invalid and were receiving allowances from their mutual insurance providers.
The patients were chosen randomly, but the sample was representative of age, gender, and place of residence. The inspectors concluded that “59% of the individuals examined were not actually incapable of working.”
Following this finding, the allowances of 172 people were suspended immediately. This is significant given these patients had already been assessed by the mutual insurance doctors.
The report, which posed serious concerns for the mutual funds, was never made public. Minister Vandenbroucke confirmed, "It was only in December 2024 that my office received this report for the first time. Of course, I take this matter seriously, but the former Inami officials are no longer in office."
Mutual insurance groups dispute the report’s accuracy, claiming it was withheld for valid reasons due to flawed methodology. "The methodology raised serious concerns," said Luc Van Gorp, president of the MC, speaking on behalf of all the mutual insurance providers.
