Response to interpellation 2022/23:66 on the Social Insurance Agency's resources
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns Försäkringskassan's resources and the ability to pay out benefits on time. S argues that the agency is understaffed and lacks the finances to hire staff to handle the increased influx of applications for temporary parental leave 1. S claims that the increase is not a seasonal variation but a result of the effects of the pandemic and stricter rules. S emphasizes that delayed payments hit families with children hard and proposes extra child allowance and an electricity price emergency 2. M argues that the agency is functioning well and that the management is responsible for efficiency 3 4. M emphasizes that the staff is the most important resource and that recruitment difficulties affect the operations 5 6. M points out that many payments are automated and occur quickly 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the interpellor for the interpellation she has submitted to me.
It is Åsa Eriksson who has asked me what I intend to do so that Försäkringskassan will have the conditions to carry out its mission so that all people who are dependent on benefits can also receive them in a timely manner.
The agency's management is responsible to the government for the operations and shall ensure that they are conducted efficiently and in accordance with applicable law and the obligations resulting from Sweden's membership in the European Union, that they are reported in a reliable and fair manner, and that the agency manages the state's funds well.
For 2022, Försäkringskassan's management grant amounts to over 9 billion kronor. The Ministry of Social Affairs monitors the development of the agency's efficiency and processing times, and measures are taken as needed. Försäkringskassan also submits expenditure forecasts for its operations on four occasions per year. According to the latest forecast from November 2022, the agency estimates that at the end of the fiscal year 2022, it will have an accumulated surplus amounting to 106 million kronor. This indicates that the agency has room to increase its staffing.
It is of great importance that the funds allocated to the authority are used in an efficient manner to fulfill the requirement for an efficient operation. I intend to follow this issue very closely.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. It is pleasant to be here together again on a Tuesday evening and it is good that we agree on how important Försäkringskassan and its payment of compensation to people is. I am glad about that, because it actually has very great significance for individual people, for entire households, for companies and for the entire economy of the society. For many people, the compensation from Försäkringskassan is completely life-saving. Therefore, it is so important that the Minister ensures that the agency really has the resources needed to fulfill its mission.
Just as I wrote in my interpellation, the Director General of Försäkringskassan, Nils Öberg, was at the Social Insurance Committee on November 22. At that time, he stated that the agency lacks the finances to employ the staff needed to handle the increased influx of, above all, applications for temporary parental leave, i.e., vab, that there is a constant high pressure on the unit that handles those types of cases, and that the sick leave among the unit's case officers is therefore increasing. The Director General also informed the committee that the agency cannot consume the funds allocated by the government because they do not have enough time. One is simply understaffed.
Madam Speaker! This is very concerning. That the number of cases regarding temporary parental allowance is increasing is not a new phenomenon. In the budget basis that Försäkringskassan submitted to the government for 2023, Försäkringskassan writes that increased use of the parental insurance requires more case officers. The number of applications for temporary parental allowance is assessed to increase because parents are using the insurance to a greater extent. To manage upcoming volume increases without significantly increased processing times and thereby ensure that payments are made on time, the number of employees who process benefits within the parental insurance needs to increase by 32 years' workers.
Madam Speaker! The insured families with children who are struggling with babies, with RS virus, with stomach bugs, with high electricity prices, with rising interest rates and other miseries have the right to quickly receive the money they are entitled to. We have a double crisis here, both regarding the families with children who lack money when they have been at home and babysitting, and regarding the staff who do not have time for their work and who are signed off sick due to stress and risk hitting a wall.
This, Madam Speaker, I know that both the Minister and I are very concerned about. Neither of us wants more cases of illness, whether for the sake of the individual, for the sake of society, or for the sake of the health insurance.
I ask again, Madam Speaker, what the Minister and the Government intend to do so that the Försäkringskassan case officers shall have a reasonable working situation and so that the families with children shall receive the compensation they are entitled to in a timely manner.
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Madam Speaker! My assessment is that Försäkringskassan is a very well-functioning agency, and the government maintains a close dialogue regarding the developments in its operations.
There are always seasonal variations in the inflow of cases, and it is something that the authority in question is used to handling. But it is also important that the authority's operations are efficient and that the management takes its employer responsibility to ensure a good working environment. I will have a close dialogue with the authority in question.
When a large number of employees are on sick leave or are signed off work and it coincides with an increase in sick leaves among the population as a whole, it is obviously incredibly difficult. The staff is the authority's most important resource. That the staff feels well and has a good working environment is an important issue, primarily for the individual employees but obviously also for the operation to function in a good way.
In the annual report for 2021, it appears that Försäkringskassan is working actively and has taken measures to reduce sick leave at the agency. They also assess themselves that the measures have had a positive effect on sick leave.
It is the agency's management that is primarily responsible for ensuring that the staff has a good working environment, and Försäkringskassan's management has not signaled to either me or the department that sick leave is increasing in the dialogues we have had until now. But I intend, of course, to follow up on this issue closely going forward.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
The Minister argues that seasonal variations are not uncommon, we were told here, and that is quite correct. But already in the budget forecast, which was submitted in November and which the Minister himself quotes from in his response to my interpellation, Försäkringskassan writes that the number of sick leave days for children during the first pandemic year, 2020, increased by 1.6 million. That is an increase of 24 percent. I do not call that a seasonal variation.
In the same budget forecast, Försäkringskassan writes: "The VAB usage has since continued to remain at an elevated level that approximately corresponds to the high level in 2020. This also appears to be the case this year," 2022. The agency therefore assesses that for next year, they need to employ approximately 32 workers to manage the increasing VAB demand.
Madam Speaker! If this is unfortunately not taken into account by the government in its budget bill. The only thing they do is to add a new task for Försäkringskassan: the payment of the electricity price support, which no one yet knows when it will arrive or how it is to be paid out.
Madam Speaker! Many schools and preschools have, due to the pandemic, tightened their rules regarding children's health status. This means that children are kept at home for longer periods and with milder symptoms than before, which results in a higher withdrawal of temporary parental allowance. It is good to prevent the spread of all kinds of infections, but it means more work for the agency's staff.
The Minister says in his answer to my interpellation that Försäkringskassan assesses that a surplus of 106 million kronor will be made this year. That is correct. But the Director-General was clear in the committee that the agency cannot hire more staff because the agency, in the exact same budget forecast, also states that it assesses that it will have a deficit of 278 million kronor in its appropriation next year. Then one cannot hire more staff.
How should the Minister and the Government act so that the Försäkringskassan case officers get a manageable situation and so that families with children receive money on time?
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Madam Speaker! Expenditures have been at a very high level during the pandemic. This aligns very well with what the interpellor raises tonight. Parents have utilized more days per child than before and used temporary parental allowance for more children than before.
The Public Health Agency's recommendation to stay home when one is ill with symptoms that can be caused by covid-19 has also contributed to higher utilization than what was the case before the pandemic. A lowered threshold in preschool and school for cold symptoms may also have contributed to higher utilization. On that, we are in complete agreement.
According to Försäkringskassan's latest forecast, the usage during 2022 has nevertheless changed partially compared to earlier during the pandemic. The care periods are now shorter but more frequent, meaning that parents now keep their children at home for shorter periods but more often. It is very important to follow just this question.
It is obviously of the utmost importance, Madam Speaker, that Försäkringskassan has the resources required to be able to fulfill its duties. It is also important in this context to remember that there are other factors than perhaps just a lack of money. It is the staff who are the greatest resource and perhaps not money in all parts. For example, high staff turnover or having more difficulty recruiting staff also has great significance.
As we are all fully aware, the budget process is annual, which means that a review of the agency's resources takes place every year in connection with the budget work. We therefore have every reason to follow the issue and return to it in the spring.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! I do not believe I perceived any messages from the Minister, neither to the Försäkringskassan staff nor to Swedish parents who are off work due to child illness. But perhaps it will come in the final statement.
That high-income earners who are sitting pretty do not care particularly much if Försäkringskassan's payments are delayed by a month or two is perhaps not strange. But I want to inform the Minister that in Sweden there are amounts of parents who are currently turning over every penny to try to give their children a Christmas worth remembering.
In Arboga in my constituency Västmanland, the combined income for women was 241,000 kronor per year. That is 20,000 kronor per month. Food prices are rising; the Christmas budget is 14 percent more expensive this year than last year, according to Swedbank. Fuel is more expensive, electricity is more expensive, and so on. For someone who has that amount in income every month and is forced to wait a month or two for compensation for the days they have been home and had a baby, it can be the difference between a Christmas worth remembering or a Christmas without Christmas presents.
We Social Democrats propose an extra child allowance for families with children this winter, so that they can manage the winter in a good way. We also propose an electricity price emergency, because everyone has the right to a good Christmas.
Is the Minister prepared to reach an agreement with the Social Democrats in order to be able to give news to Sweden's families with children? And does the Minister have any news to give to the Försäkringskassan staff?
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Madam Speaker! I want to return to the fact that Försäkringskassan is doing a fantastic job and is a fundamentally very well-functioning agency, but obviously seasonal variations, difficulty in recruiting staff, but also high staff turnover can have a great significance. I will follow the question closely and continue the ongoing dialogue that I have, not least with Nils Öberg, the Director General, regarding the issues.
When it comes to processing times, I am fully aware that this has a major impact on people's lives and finances. I will have an interpellation debate later this evening regarding precisely the robustness and security in terms of the payments from our agencies, especially Försäkringskassan, which many people are so dependent on.
More parents are now using temporary parental leave for the care of a sick child and are also applying for compensation on more occasions than they have done previously. As I touched upon earlier, I will follow up on the issue, and since the budget process is annual, we have every reason to discuss the issue going forward in dialogue with the responsible authority and return.
I can only state that the processing times in many cases are very short. The temporary parental allowance is paid out in many cases, 70.8 percent, very quickly after application as these are automated. The authority has worked very effectively with digitalization. This has, among other things, ensured that the parents and families receive the money in good time.
Then there are deficiencies that need to be addressed. Sometimes it does not go as quickly. For several reasons - we are not interested in making incorrect payments - it needs to take a little longer. But in all material respects, it is a well-functioning agency.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.