Turkish social security: a general view

Waleed Salam Jamil

summary

The aim of this paper is to examine the definition of the concept of social security and its applications in the Republic of Turkey. Today's social security systems are facing many difficulties in many countries around the world. Over the years, Turkey has been making great efforts to develop the social security system in line with the aspirations of citizens. Here we try to provide a comprehensive view of social security and its applications in Türkiye.

1. Social Security: A General View

Throughout history, humanity has experienced a lot of vulnerability and insecurity, and has learned a lot how to deal with it. The concept of social security is the product of these bitter experiences and struggles for this cause. Social security systems have evolved from a primitive, natural, familial and religious nature to today's institutional and contemporary models that the state has to provide. In the process, the right to social security was also included in the scope of "human rights". Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “every person, as a member of society, has a right to social security, and has the right to be provided, through national effort and international cooperation, and in accordance with the structure and resources of each country, of the economic, social and cultural rights he deserves.” indispensable to his dignity and to the free development of his personality.

According to the latest report issued by the International Labor Organization for the year 2020-2022, social security programs have not achieved the desired levels, as “only 47 percent of the world’s population is currently covered by at least one of the social protection benefits, while 4.1 billion people (53 percent) on any income security at all from their national social protection system.

There are large regional disparities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest coverage rates, with 84 percent of their population covered by at least one benefit. The coverage rate in the Americas is also higher than the global average, at 64.3 percent. Asia and the Pacific (44 percent), the Arab States (40 percent), and Africa (17.4 percent) have significant gaps in coverage.

Social Security: It is the protection of society from economic and social disturbances that may result from illness, childbirth, work accidents, unemployment, disability, old age and death, through a series of general procedures. These problems cause a decrease in an individual's income and/or an increase in his expenditure. Physiological risks such as disease, aging, and disability, which negatively affect the labor force, and unemployment, which does not affect the labor force, but rather prevents its use, are among these risks. Faced with these risks, the individual is temporarily or permanently deprived of income and is thrust into an environment of economic insecurity. For this reason, efforts to eliminate the effects of economic, social and physiological risks on individuals form the basis of social security policies. Although social security has deep roots in history - the story of the Prophet Joseph as an example - its development came as a result of the industrial revolution in Europe. According to the Social Action Organization, social security is: Social protection, or social security, is a human right and is defined as a set of policies and programs designed to reduce and prevent poverty. Social protection includes the rights of children, families, maternity, unemployment, work-related injury, sickness, old age and disability, as well as health coverage. Social protection systems address all relevant areas through a combination of tax-financed (social insurance) schemes and benefits, including social assistance. Social protection programs can be abbreviated

2. Social security in Türkiye

Social rights were codified in Turkey with the 1961 Constitution. In this context, the Military Solidarity Foundation was established in 1961, and the General Directorate of Social Services in 1963. Insurance institutions established on different dates were merged under the Social Security Corporation (SSK) in 1965. After that, the development of social security laws was carried out, and the Social Security Institution Law (SGK) No. 5502 was issued, and accordingly, SSK, Pension Fund and BAĞ-KUR institutions were brought together under one roof, with the aim of achieving unity in practice and administration. Within the framework of this law, the SGK was created, terminating the legal personality of the other three structures and reducing them under the umbrella of the SGK.

In the last constitutional amendment of the Republic of Turkey in 2017, social security was mentioned as a constitutional article, in Title X under the principles of "Social Security Rights". Article 60 states: “Everyone has the right to social security.” “The state takes the necessary measures to provide social security and organizes its institution.” . The Turkish Social Security Law went through many stages, and it was not at a good level for many years until it entered a broad reform program. In this regard, the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 was accepted on May 31, 2006, and Law No. 5510 entered into force on October 01, 2008 with all its provisions. By Law No. 5510, norms and standards in many areas in the field of social insurance have been unified and put into practice. According to Article (2) of this law, it “includes individuals who will benefit from social and general health insurance, employers, health service providers, real persons, and all types of public and private legal entities, institutions, and other organizations that do not have a legal personality in terms of implementing this law.” .

The Social Security Authority provides services to Turkish citizens from birth to death, and even after their death, in the areas of health, insurance and social assistance, in line with its mission to implement and develop a high-quality, fair, accessible and people-oriented social security system. All services are performed by the organs of the General Assembly, the Board of Directors and the Presidency specified in accordance with Article 406 of Presidential Decree No. 4.

The general structure of social security in Turkey is based on insurance principles based on the concept of the social state model. The terms and amount of insurance benefits to be granted to the insured are determined in advance, and services are provided in the long and short term branches of insurance. The social security system, in contrast to private insurance, was created as a state social requirement. The insurance system in Turkey is funded by the premiums received, and the premiums received from the active insured are used to cover the payments of all the insured. This type of financing is called the distribution method and is based on sharing between generations.

Turkey's social security system consists of short-term insurance branches that cover work accidents and occupational diseases, sickness and maternity insurance branches, and long-term insurance branches that cover disability, death and old age insurance branches. It can be divided as follows:

1.2. Short term insurance:

• Payment of the daily temporary disability allowance to the insured during the period of temporary disability from work.

• Attaching a permanent disability income to the insured.

Income contribution to the beneficiaries of the deceased insured as a result of a work accident or occupational disease.

• Granting a marriage allowance to low-income girls.

• Granting daily temporary disability allowance from sickness and maternity insurance to the insured during the period of inability to work due to illness or maternity.

Breastfeeding allowance within the scope of maternity insurance.

Funeral allowance.

Granting rights/debts of military service and birth debts.

2.2. Long term insurance:

Granting disability/disability pension within the scope of disability/disability insurance.

• Granting an old-age pension and paying a lump sum within the scope of old-age insurance.

• Within the scope of survivors' insurance, survivors' pension, death lump sum payment, funeral allowance and marriage allowance are granted to girls who receive pensions.

3.2. General health insurance:

• Providing funded medical products and services to public health insurance holders and their dependents.

• Contribute to the definition of personal preventive health services policies and implement them effectively with the relevant public departments in order to protect holders of comprehensive health insurance and beneficiaries of diseases.

• Informing public health insurance holders, beneficiaries and employers of their rights and duties arising from general health insurance legislation by all means of communication.

3. Comprehensive health insurance system

The comprehensive health system guarantees the maintenance of the health status of the insured persons in the event of receiving medical care. The system finances the medical cost of the insured persons. The comprehensive health insurance system provides access to health services for all persons. Those who live in the country regardless of whether they are insured or uninsured Or those who work or not, regardless of their economic status, by placing all people under one roof of personal coverage, and the system provides comprehensive, fair and equitable benefits in terms of access to health care services. Comprehensive health insurance is almost comprehensive. It includes almost all residents, including employed, self-employed, civil servants, unemployed and destitute, foreigners etc., and their dependents on the basis of residency status.

4. Financing the social security system in Türkiye

The financing methods implemented by social security institutions differ from country to country, even from one institution to another, and from one program to another. In some countries, insurance costs are provided entirely by the state, while in some countries, it is provided by the state and through premiums received from the employer and employee. In general, the basic sources of financing social security are premiums obtained from employees and employers, contributions made by the state in the event of a deficit in social security institutions, tax deductions and taxes collected directly or indirectly.

Turkish Social Security is one of the systems financed with the highest premiums in the world. The State contributes a portion of the premium allocated to the long-term and general health insurance branches. The Turkish Social Security Institution is the public institution with the largest budget item in Turkey. The social insurance system in Turkey is financed through the premiums paid by the insured and the employer, contributions and state support. For short- and long-term insurance branches, general health insurance and unemployment insurance, 15% is paid by the insured, 22.5% by employers and 1% by the state, which represents a total of 38.5% of the premiums. The following table shows financing in detail:

When examining the financing method applied by SSK, it is found that it differs according to the type of insurance. The reason for these differences is long and short term payments. For example, the (capitalization) method is used for long-term payments such as permanent disability income or death pension arising from the scope of insurance against work accidents and occupational diseases, and the distribution method is used for short-term health benefits and temporary disability payments.

Conclusion

Social security systems are systems of great importance to countries seeking to develop state structures in general. Social security systems are an integral part of the methodology of countries that adopt the social state model. In this context, the Turkish state has worked for many years to develop and strengthen comprehensive and sustainable social systems programmes. In this regard, the Turkish state offers many laws, procedures and instructions with the aim of strengthening social security. The concerned institutions are also working to keep up with the advanced systems in developed countries, and offer many programs and applications in this context.

comments:

Capitalization (financing) is the use of accumulated reserves or profits of an enterprise in the process of raising capital. The capitalization method relies on creating a fund in order to meet the payments that may arise from social risk factors in the future. Capitalization aims for long-term equilibrium.

The Pay As You Go Method is based on the principle of equalizing the revenues of one year with the expenses of the same year. The distribution system is a system that covers the transfer from employees to retirees and is based on redistributing real income between generations and between different age groups within the same generation. This distribution is made from young people to the older generations. The distribution methodology aims to create an equilibrium in the short term.