AOK Nordost warns of an increase in sick leave due to the requirement to provide a certificate from the first day of illness

According to estimates by AOK Nordost, the discussed introduction of a requirement for a certificate from the first day of illness could, in the worst case scenario, increase sickness rates by around ten percent. In the first half of the year, the sickness rate among AOK insured people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was 7.5 percent. If in the future a certificate has to be presented from the first day of illness, the value could rise to 8.2 percent, as the largest health insurance company in the northeast announced. The prerequisite is that all employees who have previously treated themselves at home for up to three days without a certificate will in future go straight to the doctor and be put on sick leave.

Comparing health insurance data with employer data

For its estimate, the AOK said it compared its sick leave statistics with employer data on actual sickness-related absences. The evaluated data comes from employers who only require a certificate from the fourth day of illness.

“Of the around 100,000 days of absence evaluated in the companies, around 8,700 were short absences due to illness, for which no certificate had to be presented,” reported the AOK Nordost. This means that for a good nine days of absence with a certificate, there was another day of absence without a certificate in the evaluation.

Long-term illnesses are increasing

The head of company health management at AOK Nordost, Anke Jurchen, explained: “In order to reduce sickness rates, in our view it would make more sense to take measures against long-term illnesses into account.” Their share of all days absent in MV has continued to rise. Around 40 percent of the sick days registered with the AOK in MV were now due to long-term illnesses. Anyone who is on sick leave for more than 42 days is considered long-term sick.