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The number of employees applying for a labour disability benefit due to whiplash has gradually decreased during the last 25 years in the Netherlands. The total number of applicants seems to stabilise around 30% of the number around the turn of the century. This is surprising given that the professional standards for social insurance physicians emphasise the importance of rehabilitation, while courts hardly ever judge in favour of benefit claimants. We investigate the underlying reasons for the changing statistics and make a recommendation on how social insurance physicians can best approach a claimant.

Objective: To develop projections of the size of the Australian population aged 65 years and over eligible for disability support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for the decade following its introduction, to support planning and costing of the scheme., Methods: We estimate disability and mortality transition probabilities and develop projections of the NDIS-eligible, ageing population from 2017 to 2026., Results: An estimated 8000 men and 10 200 women aged 65 years and over will be eligible for support through the NDIS in 2017 (the scheme's first full year), increasing to 48 800 men and 56 900 women in 2026., Conclusions: Growth in the NDIS-eligible, ageing population has implications for relative budget allocations between the NDIS and the aged-care system, and projections of the size of this population are useful for calculating the overall cost of the NDIS., (© 2017 AJA Inc.)

Positive therapeutic effects on the work force participation derived from international clinical trials may not be directly transferable to the community based care in Germany. Therefore recent changes of data regarding sick leave (SL), work disability pension (WDP) and employment from the social insurance and from the national database of the German collaborative arthritis centers were analyzed covering a time period of at least 10 years. Health insurance data showed a steeper decline in the average duration of SL caused by rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with all other diseases. In RA patients from the collaborative arthritis centers the mean duration of SL was much more reduced than the average duration of SL for members of the compulsory health insurance. The proportion of gainfully employed RA patients in collaborative arthritis centers has particularly increased in women. According to data from the pension insurance fund less incident cases of WDP due to RA, AS, and SLE have been observed than WDP caused by all other diseases. Thus different nationwide data show positive changes of the work force participation of individuals suffering from inflammatory rheumatic diseases in Germany.

Background: In recent years the total number of people drawing a pension - especially for psychiatric reasons - from Switzerland's Federal Disability Insurance ("IV") has been steadily climbing. As we have revealed in earlier studies of persons applying for a disability pension for psychiatric reasons only 64 % had received psychiatric treatment and only 20 % adequate drug treatment ., Hypothesis: In this study we examined whether, treatment recommendations given by medical experts were followed and if so, how successfully., Methods: In 40 patients who had got a psychiatric expertise in 2004 at the Psychiatric Outpatient Department, University of Basel, on behalf of the Swiss Disability Insurance, a 1-year follow-up was done and the results were compared., Results: At reassessment significantly more patients (58 %) were in psychiatric-psychotherapeutic treatment than at first assessment (32 %). The recommended drug treatments were fully complied with in only 43 % of the cases; the recommended psychotherapy in only 9 % of the cases; and recommended in-patient treatment at a psychiatric hospital in only 14 % of the cases. During the time between evaluations, the seriousness of the condition had altered in a number of cases: in 33 % the condition had noticeably improved (e. g. from severe to mild depression) or was no longer present, and in 9 % the condition had worsened (e. g. from mild to severe depression). No significant relationship was found between compliance (full, partial or no implementation of recommended treatments) and change in illness severity. Partnership has been identified as the factor with the strongest influence on illness severity: in subjects who were married or living with a partner illness course was much better than in subjects without a stable partnership.

Predictive genetic testing poses fundamental questions for disability insurance, a crucial resource funding basic needs when disability prevents income from work. This article, from an NIH-funded project, presents the first indepth analysis of the challenging issues: Should disability insurers be permitted to consider genetics and exclude predicted disability? May disabilities with a recognized genetic basis be excluded from coverage as pre-existing conditions? How can we assure that private insurers writing individual and group policies, employers, and public insurers deal competently and appropriately with genetic testing?

Background: The increasing prevalence of disability pensioning in Norway has led to several attempts at strengthening the proactive role of the National Insurance System (NIS) in cases of long-term sick-listing. Since 1988, a special medical certificate is required after eight weeks of sick-leave. The aim of this study was to examine whether systematic evaluation of this medical certificate by NIS officers and NIS medical consultants could reduce future health insurance expenditure., Material and Methods: In 1994 a randomised study using a paired design of the NIS local offices in the county of Hordaland was undertaken. All eight-week medical certificates in the intervention group (N = 2,237) were systematically reviewed, whereas standard routines were used for the control group (N = 1,764)., Results: After three years, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in health insurance utilisation., Interpretation: We conclude that local NIS offices are unable to use the information in the eight-week sick notes to effectively influence future utilisation of health insurance. The reason may be that NIS offices lack the skills necessary for early intervention in long-term sick-listing.

This article focuses on disability in the professional work force, especially among physicians, and includes a background on private disability insurance in the United States, a discussion of problems experienced by the insurance industry over the past few years, a review of relevant case law on private disability, and legal and clinical issues involved in performing independent medical evaluations.