PRINCIPLE OF (NON) CUMULATION, THAT IS, ABOUT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE RIGHT TO A RETIREMENT PENSION FROM THE GENERAL AND MILITARY SYSTEMS

Professional soldiers have their own social security system, separate from the general social insurance system, which provides social protection in the event of long service, total incapacity to serve and the death of the breadwinner (pension benefits). At the same time, a professional soldier can accumulate and receive two pensions from different systems, ie universal and reserve. However, the principle of accumulation of benefits based on the applicable provision is dedicated to a narrow group of entitled persons. The principle of non-cumulation is considered to be the basic and dominant one. It is an expression of the principle of risk solidarity in force in social insurance law and is not inconsistent with the constitutional principle of equality expressed in Art. 32 of the Polish Constitution. In the event of the overlapping of the right to several benefits specified in the Act, the pension authority is obliged to pay only one (higher) benefit, even if this right results from various acts, and the possibility of combining benefits must be clearly indicated in the provisions of law. Separation of the insurance and supply system allows each of these systems to fulfill separate obligations towards professional soldiers, not related to the general system. Maintaining the principle that for the same period of retirement pension insurance, two retirement benefits cannot be awarded simultaneously (Article 5 (2a) (2a) of the Pension Act). The exception to the principle of non-accumulation (ie the principle of collecting one benefit) in the case of a professional soldier remaining in service before January 2, 1999 is not determined by the date of admission to service, but the lack of the possibility to calculate the military pension taking into account the “civil” retirement age. The convergence of the right to benefits (from the general and military pension) with the parallel occurrence of these events is contrary to the constitutional principle of social justice. It is not socially just to deprive an insured person who has met the statutory requirements of the right to benefits solely on the basis of social solidarity. In such situations, a significant part of the retiree’s professional life is not reflected in the amount of received retirement benefits.

A FEW REMARKS ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ZUS (SOCIAL INSURANCE INSTITUTION)

The subject of the article is to discuss the evolution of legal regulations regarding the appointment of the President of the Social Insurance Institution included in the Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system and an assessment whether an employment relationship is established between ZUS and its President on the basis of the appointment.

Gendered Activation at the Expense of Gender Equality? Activation and Gender Equality as Competing Logics in the Swedish Welfare State

This study aims to understand how goals of activation and gender equality interact in labor market programs directed towards activating unemployed participants. The study draws on interviews with 28 social workers and managers at four Swedish municipally governed labor market programs typically targeted towards poor, unemployed individuals with little to no attachment to the labor market or social insurance system. Our findings show that activation goals are understood to be clear cut and a dominant logic within the labor market programs. The gender equality goals are understood as fuzzy and subordinate to the activation logic. Our theoretical analysis, based on neo-institutional theory, shows that gendered activation as a hybrid logic is created within the four programs as a means of handling the competing logics of gender equality and activation. Gendered activation may be reasonable on an individual level, where women in long-term unemployment can sustain a higher income through work and become financially independent. In the context of the gender segregated labor market, gendered activation reproduces gendered inequalities when an increasing interest for activation policy among welfare states overshadows claims of gender equality. Furthermore, our study exemplifies the systemic reproduction of racist discourse within social- and labour market policies. Within the logic of gendered activation, migrant women become singled out as specifically problematic for Swedish society to handle when unemployment is given gendered and cultural explanations. Through the logic of gendered activation, gender equality goals become no-matter-what employment rather than employment leading to equal outcomes.

Institutional Design and Incentives for Migrant Workers to Participate in Social Insurance in China: Evidence From a Policy Experiment in Chengdu City

Rural-to-urban migration has increased rapidly in China since the early 1980s, with the number of migrants has reached 376 million by 2020. Despite this sharp trend and the significant contributions that migrants have made to urban development, the migrant workers have had very limited access to the social insurance that the majority of urban workers enjoy. Against the background of the social insurance system adjustment in Chengdu in 2011, this study uses a difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically test the impacts of changes in the social insurance policy contribution rates on the social insurance participation rates of migrant workers, using the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data for 2009–2016. We find that the social insurance participation rate of migrant workers was significantly reduced after they were incorporated into the urban worker insurance system. There was no significant change in the wages of migrant workers, but the working hours were increased and their consumption level decreased. In other words, simply changing the social insurance model of migrant workers from “comprehensive social insurance” to “urban employee insurance” reduces the incentives for migrant workers to participate in insurance and harms the overall welfare of migrant workers. Our study indicates that the design of the social security policy is an important reason for the lower participation rate of migrants. It is necessary to solve the problem of insufficient incentives through the targeted social security policies; primarily, the formulation of a social security policy contribution rate suitable for the migrants, and the establishment of a comprehensive social security policy and the gradual integration of the social security system.

Experience of EU countries in organizing of the circulation and availability of medicines for the population

Finland's health care system has evolved over the years, with its distinctive features being tax funding, the provision of the vast majority of medicines and medical services by public and municipal authorities. to study the experience of EU countries in the field of health care in the organization of circulation and availability of medicines. To achieve this goal used the methods of regulatory, documentary, comparative and graphical analysis. The increase in the cost of medical care leads to the fact that the state is increasingly thinking about containing costs. The level of co-financing by patients is growing, at the same time measures are being taken to limit the selling price of medicines. The existing system of reference prices promotes the entry of generics into the market and, apparently, this direction will develop. A characteristic feature of the health care and pharmaceutical supply system in the Nordic countries is coordination, which is implemented at different levels and in many forms. The organization of the circulation and accessibility of medicines for the population in Finland is based on covering the costs of medicines through the social insurance system, but with the participation of the state. The priority common aspects of the functioning of the national health care systems of the Scandinavian region remain: coordination between hospitals and definition of their areas of activity; coordination between general services and specialized assistance centers; coordination of the organization of drug circulation and medical care for certain categories of patients (privileged categories, patients with oncological diseases, etc.); coordination of pharmaceutical support and medical services for patients with chronic diseases (diabetes, etc.); coordination of long-term pharmaceutical provision and medical care for the elderly.

The German Social Security System for Farmers

On the one hand, the complex, constantly evolving system of German Agricultural Social Insurance guarantees each individual insured person comprehensive protection under social insurance law comparable to that for the general population. On the other hand, the state supports not only farms but agriculture as an economic sector as a whole with a reliable and massive financial contribution. The history, tasks, responsibilities, benefits, financing and organisational structure will be presented as well as prevention, special programmes and international relations. In doing so, all four branches of the German Agricultural Social Insurance System are dealt with by means of the descriptive method.

Spain

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the tax-financed, universal health system in Spain. It traces the development of the Spanish healthcare system, focusing in particular on its double transition in the 1980s and 1990s from a centralized social insurance system, mostly funded through workers’ and employers’ contributions, to a decentralized universal model financed by general taxation. The new national health system aimed at covering all residents and transferred healthcare competences to the regions, i.e. the seventeen Autonomous Communities, a process completed in 2001. Key issues include rationalization, harmonization, and territorial equity-building of the decentralized healthcare system; efficiency improvement through the introduction of private management elements; and cost containment to bolster the system’s financial sustainability in the context of growing demand and scarce resources. As the chapter argues, these challenges along with the remarkable changes in the political party system have increased the political salience of healthcare in public debate in the 2010s, but the prospects for developing consensual healthcare policies have worsened, such that structural problems are likely to persist.

Romania

This chapter examines health politics and the social health insurance system in Romania. It traces the development of the Romanian healthcare system, characterized by chronic underfunding, political neglect, and low public satisfaction. Since the regime change in 1989, Romanian health policy has focused on the transformation from a Semashko-style tax-based centralized system into a more decentralized Bismarckian social insurance system. Other healthcare issues have been rising out-of-pocket payments, a failed privatization attempt starting in 2007, and cost-containment measures following the 2008 recession. As the chapter argues, political instability, especially the frequent changes of health ministers, is partly responsible for a lack of long-term planning and a patchwork style of reforms.

Former Yugoslavia

This chapter traces the common past of the healthcare systems of seven countries that formerly were part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. Due to their common state histories, these countries witnessed similar health policy developments, marked by the introduction of a social insurance system under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and establishment of universal healthcare during the communist period. After the break-up of the SFRY in 1992, the countries departed on independent policy trajectories, which were protracted and disrupted by conflicts over state-building and nationalism, and in some countries also by civil war.

Bosnia And Herzegovina

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the social health insurance system in the separate entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. It traces the development of the healthcare system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked by the introduction of self-managed insurance system during communism. After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992 following the breakup of the SFRY, the health system deteriorated during the devastating Bosnian War, and the nation-building process dominated the political agenda. Since 1996, facilitated by international organizations, health politics has focused on remodeling the socialist self-managed insurance system towards a more standard social insurance system with market elements. While the Republika Srpska entity has a centralized social insurance system, in the Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine entity the social insurance is decentralized, governed independently by ten cantons. As described in the chapter, the main healthcare issues have been the significant portion of uninsured, inequalities in health access both across and within regions, the high cost of private health services, and difficulties with collecting sufficient insurance contributions due to high rates of unemployment and informal employment.