Social insurance

Here you can read more about current measures in health and social care and health and social care staff. This is the fourth article in a series about the work of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in response to the COVID-19 virus.

Here you can read about measures, advice and restrictions that concern older people, people with health conditions, risk groups and health and social care staff. This is the third article in a series about the work of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in response to the COVID-19 virus.

Several of the economic measures presented by the Government, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party to mitigate the impact of the virus outbreak will be reinforced, including reimbursement for the first day of sickness and central government responsibility for businesses’ sick pay costs. In addition, the ceiling for unemployment benefits will be raised from day 101.

The Government continues to maintain a close dialogue with relevant expert government agencies on effective measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus, which can cause COVID-19. Read more below about the most recent recommendations and decisions in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ policy areas of public health, medical care, social care and social insurance.

There is now an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The Swedish Government is following developments carefully and is in continuous contact with the responsible authorities. Below is a selection of the Government’s decisions and initiatives that have been taken so far in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ areas.

The Government is proposing to temporarily suspend the medical certificate requirement from the eighth calendar day of a sick pay period.

(New version) Due to the COVID-19 virus, the Government has announced that the sickness benefit standard deduction will temporarily be abolished in that the central government will pay sickness benefit for the first day of sickness. The ultimate aim of this measure is to reduce the spread of infection in society. The new regulation is in effect from 11 March until 11 May 2020.

In the Budget Bill for 2020, the Government presents a range of proposals to increase security and welfare in Sweden. Here you can learn more about the proposals related to the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.

The Government wants to raise pensions. The Government and the Working Group on Pensions have therefore proposed a number of pension measures in bills submitted to the Riksdag on 28 May. The Working Group on Pensions includes the governing parties – the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Green Party – and the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.

On 11 April, Minister for Social Security Annika Strandhäll and Japan’s Ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki signed a social security agreement between the two countries. The agreement coordinates the Swedish and Japanese public old-age, survivors’ and disability pensions systems (for Sweden, sickness and activity compensation). Japan is one of Sweden’s largest trade partners outside the EU.

The agreement coordinates the Swedish and Japanese public old-age, survivors’ and disability pensions systems (for Sweden, sickness and activity compensation), and governs whether a person must be insured for such benefits in Sweden or Japan. As the agreement coordinates the Swedish and Japanese regulatory frameworks, individuals will not lose their accrued social insurance rights, primarily pension rights, when they move between the two countries.

Minister for Social Security Annika Strandhäll and Japan’s Ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki today signed a social security agreement between the two countries. The agreement coordinates the Swedish and Japanese public old-age, survivors’ and disability pensions systems.

The Government wishes to mitigate the consequences for Swedish citizens in the United Kingdom in the event that the country leaves the EU without reaching any agreement whatsoever on how this withdrawal is to take place. Among other things, the government bill submitted to the Riksdag proposes that, in the event of a hard Brexit, it should still be possible to pay Swedish social security benefits to individuals in the United Kingdom over a transitional period. It is also proposed that it should still be possible to receive compensation for healthcare expenses over the same period.

In the social security area, the immediate effect of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is that central EU legal provisions will no longer apply. To prevent any acute consequences, the Government is planning to take measures that will primarily mitigate the effects that may arise for individuals during the initial period after the withdrawal. The proposals aim to allow a period of adjustment.

Sweden has a fundamentally sound pension system, whose unique design attracted much international attention when it was adopted in the 1990s. Several countries, inspired by the Swedish pension system, have now reformed their own. The fact that the pension system is outside the government budget and pays out exactly as much in pensions as money is available for makes the pension system financially sustainable, which means that there is no risk of rolling over debt to future generations. This, combined with political stability — a large majority of Riksdag members backed the system — paves the way for secure pensions.

This pilot study provides a practical overview and compilation of known information and knowledge concerning the premium pension.

Creating a pension system is a major task, and fundamentally redesigning an already established general pension system is difficult. Such efforts require much determination, ingenuity and broad support to succeed. The reformation of the Swedish pension system was characterised by a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to compromise that, in an international perspective, defined Swedish policies in the 1900s, and is often seen as being characteristic of the Swedish model.

In the Budget Bill for 2018, the Government presents a range of proposals to increase security and welfare in Sweden. Here you can learn more about the proposals related to the areas of responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.