07 May 2021 11:11

INFORMATION from the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance

On March 18, 2020, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed Order No. 1947 “On strengthening the social protection of medical workers involved in measures against novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection”. The order states that the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

• will determine the scope of medical workers to whom temporary allowances specified in Section 1 of this Order will apply, also the period of payment of the allowances and the amount depending on the nature of the work;
• will determine the terms of remuneration for medical workers of private health facilities and volunteers involved in fighting against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection;
• will resolve other issues arising from the order.

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed Resolution No. 112 on March 25, 2020, in accordance with the abovementioned Order. The resolution determines the amount of the temporary allowances payable to the employees of public medical facilities for their working conditions in connection with the novel type of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection as follows:

• for medical workers involved in preventive medical measures - an amount of 3 times the monthly official (tariff) salary;
• for medical workers providing emergency medical services, as well as laboratory staff involved in the examination of biological material, including employees of the Forensic Medical Expertise and Pathological Anatomy Association and the Azerbaijan Institute of Food Safety - an amount of 4 times the monthly salary;
• for employees providing inpatient medical services to patients - an amount of 5 times the monthly official (tariff) salary.

The resolution states that temporary allowances are paid in proportion to working hours.

According to the abovementioned Order and the Resolution, the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance paid 169,400,000 manat in allowances and bonuses to medical and non-medical workers, as well as volunteers involved in the fight against novel type of coronavirus infection in all health facilities during the year 2020.

All medical and non-medical workers were informed by the management of hospitals and the Agency on the Order and the Resolution, and the procedure for calculating the payment amount. Questions related to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers have been answered by the Agency.

It should be stated that the number of infection cases in February was much lower than in other months in the country. This naturally affected the days and hours of involvement of medical and non-medical workers.

The number of infection cases during the first four months of the current year is shown in the following diagram:

It should also be noted, that according to the list of medical and non-medical workers involved in the fight against COVID-19, work sheets and accounting sheets, provided to the Agency by the Baku Emergency and Urgent Medical Aid Station, showed that 259,072 manat was paid to 1542 people in February of this year in proportion to their working time / hours.

Calculation formula for temporary allowances in proportion to working days/hours during the month: temporary allowance = (Base salary according to the Single Tariff Schedule / number of working days or working hours during a month) x number of days worked by employee x the multiplication factor of the allowance amount.

Example: “The monthly (base) salary of an ambulance doctor working in emergency and urgent medical care for the 15th category is 440 manat. If a doctor was involved in the fight against coronavirus infection for 120 hours, then he/she will be paid an allowance of 1353 manat 85 qepiks. 1353.85 = ((440 / 156) x 120) x 4. Please note that all salary deductions payable by the employee will be calculated from the final amount”.

It should be noted that in order to protect the health of medical workers involved in the fight against the disease, they were provided with all necessary personal protective equipment and all medical staff have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in accordance with the Vaccination Strategy.