The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has reviewed the status of implementation of recommendations proposed in November 2024 to eliminate corrupt practices in the system of medical and social examination (MSEC). The recommendations are outlined in the study "Top 10 Corruption Risks in Medical and Social Examination for Disability Determination" (updated to account for the legal regime of martial law), which was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
NACP specialists analyzed what changes in legislation and procedures have occurred during this period, gathering information from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and civil society organizations. Some of the key anti-corruption measures have already been implemented.
Specifically, a new procedure for disability determination has been introduced, and MSECs have been replaced by expert teams for assessing a person's daily functioning. Clear regulations and a list of functions for these teams have been established, and their members have become subject to the requirements and restrictions of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption." An electronic system has been launched and document flow has been largely digitized, and the principle of "extraterritoriality" has been implemented, which allows avoiding dependence on a specific region or institution. All of this significantly minimizes corruption risks associated with document forgery or influence by interested parties.
However, a certain number of recommendations remain partially unimplemented and require additional regulatory and organizational steps. There is a need to improve the procedure for assessing a person's functioning, technically refine digital systems, and enhance their operational capacity, which will ensure transparency in the work of expert teams and eliminate risks of corrupt practices.
Shortcomings that NACP calls to address:
- the implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health is at an early stage, the division into "disability groups" remains, and the electronic system has not been fully integrated;
- the risk of artificially delaying disability determination timelines remains, as maximum deadlines for conducting additional examinations have not been defined;
- the system of interdepartmental interaction and support for military personnel and veterans currently exists only in basic regulatory legal acts and requires real integration of systems between departments;
- the need for full implementation of electronic document flow and control over access to patient data in medical information systems remains unresolved;
- the implementation of automatic formation of expert teams remains formal and accordingly there is a risk of influence.
The presence of problematic issues is also confirmed by numerous appeals from citizens to the hotline of the NGO "All-Ukrainian Human Rights Organization 'Legal Hundred.'"
More details about the monitoring report on the implementation of recommendations can be found at this link.
Reference. The analysis of the implementation of NACP recommendations was conducted taking into account information provided by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and civil society organizations: the analytical center "Institute of Legislative Ideas," "Youth Public Organization 'Youth Perspective,'" and "All-Ukrainian Human Rights Organization 'Legal Hundred.'"
