Legal issues of reforming the social insurance system of employees during the pandemic

Abstract

The article analyzes certain legal aspects of compulsory and voluntary insurance during the pandemic in connection with COVID-19. Since Article 7 of the Constitution of Russia proclaims the Russian Federation to be a social state, an analysis of these aspects is currently relevant, using a comparative legal and system-structural research methods. Among the most important problems currently considered are improving the mechanism of compulsory social insurance for temporary disability and in connection with maternity, as well as voluntary insurance of those types that are social in nature, i.e. voluntary medical insurance and insurance against illness. It is necessary to optimize the composition of types of compulsory social insurance and to clarify the grounds for provision in connection with COVID-19, in particular, by including coronavirus infection in the list of diseases that entitle one to the payment of benefits for caring for a sick child for a longer period, as well as by securing the right to benefits for one of the parents in the event that the child declares additional holidays due to quarantine. In addition, it is proposed to legislate the concepts of accident and disease not only in relation to compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, but also in relation to voluntary social insurance, which can be done in legislation on organizing insurance businesses. To resolve the issue of expanding the coverage of citizens with voluntary social insurance in case COVID-19, it is necessary to approve the minimum requirements for this type of insurance by the instruction of the Bank of Russia.