The Effect of Changes in Sickness Insurance on Incapacity for Work in Selected Regions of the Czech Republic

Abstract

Sickness insurance as part of social insurance is obligatory for a majority of Czech citizens – i.e., they are required by law to pay this insurance. On the other hand, they are entitled to certain benefits of this system in the case of social events determined by law. Legislative changes in sickness insurance significantly influenced the development of all indicators of temporary incapacity for work (TIW) in individual regions. These changes are reflected most markedly in the indicators of the number of new cases of TIW per 100 insured persons, the average duration of 1 case of TIW and the average percentage of TIW. The aim of this paper is to give an idea of sickness insurance, especially of the impact of legal regulation changes in the system of this insurance on employees, who represent the largest share of socially insured persons, focusing on Prague, the Moravian-Silesian and the South-Moravian regions. The impact of changes in sickness insurance will be presented by selected indicators of temporary incapacity for work using regression analysis to estimate the development of individual indicators in the following years based on knowledge of the development of indicators in the years 2000–2014. Reform steps in the area of sickness insurance and sickness benefits have brought a reduction in the number of cases of incapacity for work and extending the length of one case of TIW. The value of the average percentage of incapacity for work was also registered a decrease in the researched period.