“Those who take bogus sick leave are interested in vacations, not the financial side.” Why the president of a major chronically ill NGO thinks a government decision is wrong

The Government's decision to exclude from payment the first day of medical leave will not deter the phenomenon of fictitious medical leaves, but will affect people who are really sick, especially those with low incomes, believes Radu Gănescu, president of the Coalition of Organizations of Patients with Chronic Diseases, the largest NGO that represents the rights of chronic patients in Romania.

• An emergency ordinance, adopted on Tuesday, in the last government meeting of 2025, established that the first day of sick leave will no longer be paid. The authorities reasoned that they want to reduce the phenomenon of fictitious sick leaves.

The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, explained that the measure of excluding the first day of medical leave from payment is “transitional, initially thought for 2 years. But, if the phenomenon of fictitious medical leaves decreases significantly, it can be reduced and canceled at any time, it is not a definitive measure”.

Contacted by HotNews, the president of the Coalition of Organizations of Chronic Disease Patients (COPAC), Radu Gănescu, believes that such a measure is unlikely to reduce the phenomenon of fictitious medical leaves.

“I believe that this phenomenon will not stop. In the end, those who take fictitious medical leaves are very little interested in the financial part and more in the days off and the bridges they can make between holidays. Instead, the patient is definitely affected by this decision because the patient is the person who really needs financial support, when he has a health problem,” Radu Gănescu told HotNews.

The President of COPAC is of the opinion that verifications regarding the veracity of sick leave should not be very difficult, but that the authorities must really want it.

“Control at county health centers must be strengthened”

Radu Gănescu knows that, indeed, there is this market of fictitious medical leaves, because there are “professionals” who issue the respective documents.

“I think that here the control body must be strengthened, at least at the county health centers. Here the documentation regarding the issuance of medical leaves must be monitored and verified. Because the people who issue fictitious medical leaves are usually the ones who issue a lot of leaves, in a very short period”, adds Radu Gănescu in the dialogue with HotNews.

The problem of fictitious sick leave within control institutions

Radu Gănescu also compares this phenomenon with that of fake certificates for disabled people.

“Like (disability) certificates, these leaves are given by professionals, by people who work in medical facilities, in state institutions. So there is a need for cleanliness inside these public institutions.

In other words, the control institutions must be the ones who, in the first place, do their job. I mean, it's clear that they have to put some rules and some methods of monitoring or checking these documents that are released and take measures accordingly. I do not agree that everyone should tolerate a phenomenon that is, from my point of view, absolutely independent in the case of public institutions.

That is, it is not something that starts from the patient, it is not something that starts from the people who really have health problems, it is something that starts from among the people who work in public institutions”, added Gănescu.

The President of COPAC drew attention that, however, there will be categories of patients who will be exempted from the measure regarding the non-payment of the first day of medical leave. These aspects are to be clarified in the rules of application of the government's ordinance, Gănescu explained.

More than 7 million days of sick leave in 2024

The last report of the National Health Insurance House from March, this year, showed that last year in Romania more than 3.2 million medical leave certificates and more than 7.3 million days of leave were issued. In 2023, more than 3.3 million sick leave certificates and more than 8.3 million days of leave were granted, according to data from the National Health Insurance Agency.

Top 10 diagnoses for which the most days of sick leave were granted in 2024:

• 1. People who turn to health services for reasons related to reproduction – 4,591,905 days
• 2. RM maternal risk – 863,044 days
• 3. Malignant breast tumor – 777,569 days
• 4. Other touches of the intervertebral discs – 685,886 days
• 5. Fracture (lower limb) – 545,892 days
• 6. Fracture (upper limb) – 356,087 days
• 7. Dislocation, sprain and stretching of joint ligaments – 285,770 days
• 8. Cerebral infarction – 270,761 days
• 9. Dorsalgi – 266,722 days
• 10. Tuberculosis of the respiratory system – 254,099 days.