Corruption in MSEC: who receives the multimillion streams for disability

Corruption in MSEC: who receives the multimillion streams for disability

The number of corruption scandals surrounding the medical-social expert commissions – MSEC – has significantly increased in Ukraine.

During searches of the apartments of medical experts, law enforcement officers find enormous savings in foreign currency, and MSEC members with more than modest salaries are found to own expensive real estate, including abroad, and businesses registered under the names of close relatives.

Journalists have uncovered how MSEC’s corruption schemes operate.

Corruption in MSEC has always existed, but before the war, it mainly concerned civilians.

The primary shadow income for MSEC members came from extending and confirming disability groups for people who no longer qualified for them according to medical criteria. The fact is that it was necessary to confirm the disability group every year. However, the benefits and pensions for all three disability groups were small, so the size of the bribes, at least before the war, was not very high. For instance, confirming the first or second group for someone whose health no longer met the criteria for these groups (the person had simply recovered from surgery or illness) cost from one to two thousand hryvnias.

Large-scale flows of bribes began to enter MSEC after the start of the mobilization. An assigned disability group provided the legal means to avoid conscription into the army.

According to police sources, after the war began, MSEC had a sort of price list for awarding disabilities to potential conscripts.

The first group – from 8 to 10 thousand dollars, the second – 7 – 8 thousand, the third – from 5 thousand. The amounts of bribes varied depending on the region, with MSEC members demanding the most in large cities. A portion of the bribe – from 500 to 1,000 dollars – went to intermediaries who found willing participants.

The most popular diseases for fake disability assignments became mental and neurological disorders, brain diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders.

However, it is impossible to execute false disability assignments without the support of “associates” – trusted doctors in specialized state clinics and diagnostic centers – radiologists, magnetic resonance imaging specialists, as disability assignments require justification in the form of a serious diagnosis with a medical history and conclusions from doctors. Therefore, bribes had to be shared, but the main share, up to 70 percent of the sum, remained with MSEC members.

After the law to strengthen mobilization came into force, the prices for disabilities sharply increased. Now, a disability “costs” from 10 to 20 thousand dollars.

Another significant corruption stream for MSEC became obtaining deferment rights from mobilization for relatives of the disabled individuals subject to conscription, provided these individuals need care.

MSEC has the authority to decide whether care is needed for a disabled relative and, consequently, whether deferment from mobilization is granted to their caregivers.

Meanwhile, the assignment of disability groups to civilians and determining whether they require care and guardianship is not under the control of the Territorial Medical Commissions (TMC) and the Military Medical Commissions. Therefore, these are separate financial flows.

The sizes of bribes for granting deferment rights to relatives of the disabled are slightly lower. From 6 to 10 thousand dollars. Such a scheme is quite simple – in exchange for a bribe, a previously fully capable person with a first or second disability group receives the status of someone in need of care. After that, the disabled person designates someone willing to provide care. Then MSEC issues a document about the care for the disabled person, and based on this document, the person receives a deferment at the TMC.

Overall, we are talking about enormous corruption flows amounting to tens of millions of dollars being obtained by MSEC corrupt officials, structurally included in the system of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

According to a source in MSEC, a portion of this money is passed by commission heads to the higher leadership – functionaries at the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Therefore, the sizes of bribes for MSEC positions have also skyrocketed after the war – from $20,000 for a commission member to $100,000 for the position of head of an interdistrict MSEC.