Agency also at fault, say unions

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: It isn't only ignorant doctors who are "robbing" workers of their Social Security Organisation aid and disability pensions.
Unions said Socso itself sometimes denied workers' claims by appealing the findings of its medical panels.
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress said since 2000 it had received 13 complaints of the organisation challenging its panels' decisions that claimants were entitled to disability pensions.
A dozen complaints were filed with MTUC between 2000 and 2004.
These members told MTUC that Socso questioned the panel's medical opinions by forcing them to appear before an appellate medical board.
"There should be an end to this practice, which is aimed at frustrating and delaying the legitimate claims of members," MTUC vice-president A. Balasubramaniam told the New Straits Times.
He also questioned Socso for disputing the findings of competent doctors.
"Who in Socso has the medical expertise to decide that the findings of doctors are wrong?"
Socso chief executive officer K. Selvarajah insisted that Socso and the claimant were within their rights to appeal any initial findings. Socso "very rarely" appealed, he noted.
"We have not appealed any of the 3,000-odd invalidity pension cases that came before us in the last eight months."
Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry and Socso were trying to improve the skills of doctors on the medical panels to reduce the need for an appeal.
The minister said he had instructed Socso to minimise their appeals.