Nearly 30,000 long-term sick workers in Belgium were automatically recognised as unfit for work until retirement during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures requested by N-VA MP Axel Ronse from Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit).
More than 18,000 of those people are still receiving sickness benefits today.
At the height of the pandemic, pressure on healthcare system prompted the federal government to introduce an exceptional measure easing the workload of medical advisers responsible for assessing whether long-term sick workers could return to work, either fully or partially.
In December 2020, 29,145 people were automatically granted incapacity-for-work status until retirement. The measure applied to anyone who had already been off work for more than 10 years, to people aged 58 and over, and to workers aged 50 to 57 who had been unable to work for 5 to 10 years.
According to figures provided by Vandenbroucke, 18,443 people from that group are still receiving benefits until they reach retirement age, while 9,563 have since retired, died or returned to work.
"An exceptional measure should never become a permanent system that continues for years," Ronse said, calling for a thorough and rapid reassessment of the cases.
Vandenbroucke has already instructed Belgium's health insurance funds to begin reassessing long-term sickness cases. By 2029, around 218,000 files are due for review, with priority given to those whose incapacity status currently runs until retirement.
