Cabinet proposes Rada to liquidate MSEC from 2025
The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to the Verkhovna Rada to liquidate medical and social expert commissions (MSEC) from January 1, 2025.
This was reported by the Ministry of Health, Ukrainian News Agecy reports.
In particular, it is reported that the government has approved a bill that will replace MSECs with teams of medical practitioners from January 1.
"The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a law that will eliminate the outdated and compromised system of medical and social expertise and create a digitalized system for evaluating the daily functioning of a person on the basis of the most powerful hospitals and a capable network of medical facilities," the message reads.
In particular, instead of the term "medical and social examination", the bill introduces the term "assessment of the daily functioning of a person".
According to the bill, from January 1, 2025, instead of MSECs, expert teams for assessing the daily functioning of a person, consisting of practicing doctors, will work. These teams will work in multidisciplinary, powerful medical institutions, where multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams already work. These hospitals should be equipped with everything necessary for evaluation and additional examination and have a sufficient number of specialized specialists on staff.
It is possible to carry out the assessment not only face-to-face in the institution, but also in absentia, remotely or with a visit to the patient.
It is also assumed that the new system will be digitized, the attending physician will be able to send the case for evaluation electronically, and the results of the evaluation will automatically enter the Unified Information System of the Social Sphere for further steps in rehabilitation, assessment of work capacity and, if necessary, the appointment of state benefits.
It is expected that digitalization will prevent corruption and other abuses, doctors will not know the name of the patient before the evaluation, and the patient will not know the names of the doctors who will evaluate its functionality, which should exclude the possibility of prior corrupt agreements.
Treating doctors will be able to refer for evaluation, and military personnel - doctors of military medical commissions on the basis of clear criteria with the help of an electronic system.
In the evaluation process, a person will be able to involve his authorized representative, for example, a doctor, who will be able to explain the patient's case.
It is determined which doctors have the right to conduct evaluations, and which do not. Mechanisms for appealing the decisions of evaluation teams are foreseen.
The new evaluation system will be financed through the National Health Service of Ukraine.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on October 22, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to develop and submit to the Verkhovna Rada a bill with the aim of urgently reforming the system of medical and social expertise in Ukraine, foreseeing, in particular, the liquidation of medical and social expert commissions from December 31, 2024.
On October 22, Zelenskyy held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council due to the abuses occurring in the MSEC and information about the massive acquisition of disability groups by prosecutors.