Already at the beginning of the summer period, the situation within the authority was under pressure, which was noticeable both for employees and people in need of compensation.
The government and the Social Democrats are now in agreement on the issue of Försäkringskassan’s growing queues – money must be pushed.
– It is to overcome the long processing times, increase accessibility and service and, of course, the control of incorrect payments and benefit violations, says Social Security Minister Anna Tenje (M).
Waiting time of over 50 days
The waiting time for processing sickness benefit cases is expected to be around 50 days after the summer and then increase to 70 days towards the end of the year, according to Försäkringskassan’s own forecast.
The time until such matters begin to be handled is normally approximately 30 days, which SVT has reported on previously.
The new support of 820 million is to be paid next year and is warmly welcomed by the Director General of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, Nils Öberg.
– There has been a lot of money missing over a few years. Now we are getting a large addition and it is my assessment that it will give us good conditions to do a good job, he says.
Hire more people
According to the director-general, the money will enable new hires to tackle the long processing times – but he cannot say how soon it will take effect.
– We will do everything we can to use this money as soon as possible in a way that shortens our processing times. Exactly when that turn will come, I cannot say now, he says.
Försäkringskassan currently has 13,000 employees, which is 1,700 fewer than last year. At the same time, the pressure on insurance processing has increased, for example for sickness benefit and in the area of children and families.
– We need to get many more people in the Social Insurance Agency, so we will definitely hire more people to be able to solve our tasks, says director general Nils Öberg.