Complicity of Socso Appellate Medical Board?

NST: Some doctors on the Social Security Organisation’s primary medical board are following their hearts in helping members fraudulently claim invalidity pensions.
By being compassionate despite the obvious deceit, they are helping members of retirement age cheat the board of millions of ringgit annually.
Dishonesty by both members’ and doctors has wide implications: the spouse will receive the survivor’s pension until he or she dies, and children after that until the age of 21. A handicapped child would receive the pension for life.
There are fears that members of the Socso Appellate Medical Board may also be guilty of complicity in the matter when cases come up for appeal.
It is anyone’s guess how many of the 7,000 Socso members reaching retirement age annually “cook up” a disease for the purpose of a pension.
Human Resources Ministry figures show that about 40 per cent of the applications are approved.
Those approved will receive between 50 to 65 per cent of their last drawn salary to a ceiling of RM3,000 per month.
Last year, Socso paid out RM175 million in invalidity pensions and another RM260 million in survivors’ pension.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said such compassion on the part of doctors was misdirected as they were abetting Socso members in cheating their fellow members of their contributions.
“There should be no such thing as compassionate assessment as Socso has to be the guardian of workers’ contributions besides ensuring they are spent in the right manner.”
This is how the cheating is done: A member submits an application months before reaching 55, claiming that he is suffering from musculoskeletal problems such as knee, back or shoulder pains, or asthma, heart problems, early diabetes and hypertension.
Once an application is submitted, the case is filed and the applicant summoned for an interview with the primary medical board, which will assess his condition.
This is where the first stage of “compassionate deceit” takes place.
It is understood that doctors sitting in on the board sometimes take the applicant’s age into account in approving the application.
If the application is rejected, an appeal is made to the Appellate Medical Board.
There have been numerous cases of rejected applicants seeking the intervention of their unions in their cases.
“Socso benefits are for the deserving,” said Fong, who was saddened by the attitude of contributors who felt they should get their contribution back “with interest”.
“We want proper assessment of patients by doctors in the primary medical board,” he said.
He said Socso had the right to appeal against cases that did not deserve invalidity pensions under the “Guidelines on Impairment and Disability Assessment of Traumatic Injuries, Occupational Diseases and Invalidity”.
Of the 26,487 applications filed in 2004, Socso appealed against 623 cases.
Some 5,000 applicants unhappy with decisions of the primary medical board appealed to the Appellate Medical Board.
Of the 27,000 cases heard last year, Socso appealed against 800 cases while 4,007 applicants lodged appeals.
He said Socso only appealed against decisions of the primary medical board when it felt the assessment was not in accordance with Socso’s Second Schedule and Guidelines.
A total foof 4.8 million workers contributed to Socso last year. Since the Socso Act came into force in 1971, Socso has collected RM13 billion in contributions.
Last year, it collected RM1.5 billion and released RM830 million to members.
Fong said Socso had conducted training for 700 doctors and organised talks to ensure they adhered to the guidelines on pensions.