CHAPTER FIVE:
ARTICLE 36- In realization of Article (29) of the
Constitution and promotion of social justice, social security is considered as
a human right aimed at protecting various classes of the society against
economic, social and natural calamities and their consequences from the
standpoint of retirement, unemployment, aging, disability, orphanage,
homelessness, accidents; physical, mental and psychological retardation; and
the need for health and medical care via insurance and other means (direct
protection and relief). Government
is required, in compliance with prevailing laws, to provide the above-mentioned
services and financial support to every citizen of the country out of public
funds and through the revenue derived from people’s financial participation.
ARTICLE 37- Insurance
activities shall be performed in two categories of general and
supplementary. Obligations and
services of each category are determined on the basis of the following
criteria:
A- General insurance services that are financed via
participation of the insured, employer(where applicable), and government
(according to its lawful mandates) including medical, retirement, disablement,
survivors, and unemployment insurance shall cover all the eligible individuals.
The coverage of these services will be determined proportionately by the
insurance premium received, financial ability of the insuring agencies and the
extent of he subsidy that will be decided and approved by the Cabinet.
Note: Services provided under the existing
laws of the insuring agencies and the pension funds for all insured persons
covered by those agencies and funds shall be counted as the general insurance
services.
B- The supplementary
portion of social insurance includes provision of higher level services as
compared to the general insurance, or provision of new services at a higher cost
. This category of insurance services shall be provided through contractual
agreement between the insured and the insurer, and its cost shall be borne by
the insured.
C- The entire financing
of the cost of the general and supplementary insurance and special medical care
of the War veterans (related to the war inflicted injuries) shall be the
responsibility of the government.
D- the Law Enforcement
Forces are required to:
1- Utilize supplementary
insurance in order to meet the medical care needs of their personnel.
2- Take the necessary measures to
provide mission-specific insurance for their operation personnel.
ARTICLE 38- In addition to the special services
provided in the context of employment, housing and educational programs,
provision for non-insurance protections consisting of preventive health care
and rehabilitation shall constitute the following cases:
1- Protecting all
individuals against social hazards, physical and mental disabilities.
2- Financing the per
capita cost of medical care insurance premiums within the framework of general
insurance provisions.
3- Provision of
facilities for individuals in need of support and guardianship and preparing
the ground for their rehabilitation and self-reliance.
4- Payment of annuity
and disability benefits to the eligible individuals.
Note: All the needy persons unable to
maintain a living and unable to work shall be eligible for receiving supportive
services provided by the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, based on the criteria
approved by government and the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
ARTICLE 39- The
following actions shall be taken in order to enhance the level of services
provided to the insured, and at
the same time to prevent any financial crisis in the insurance organizations,
and to strengthen their financial position:
A- Government, in addition to paying off its annual
obligations to the insurance agencies and avoiding new liability, is required
to settle fifty percent (50%) of its outstanding debt to the said organizations
through mutual consent, as well as divestiture of the government shares of the
state-owned enterprises, selling off public properties and assets, including
selected incomplete projects.
B- Should the rate of
increase of the workers’ wages for the last two years of tenure as reported by
the employers, be more than the normal rate of growth of the wages, and the
reported increase is not due to the job promotion, the Social Security
Organization shall charge the employer
the combined contributions of the employer and worker according to the
difference of the reported wage and the actual wage for the previous years. The
by-law pertaining to the losses incurred by the Organization shall be jointly
prepared by the Ministries of “Labor and Social Affairs”, “Health, Medicare and
Medical Education”, and approved by the Cabinet.
C- During the Third Plan
period, Note 3 under Section 3 of
the Social Security Law enacted by
the Islamic Consultative Assembly on 19/10/1997 shall be amended as follow:
1- In the case of death of an
insured person with a record of ten to twenty years of payment of insurance
premium, the survivors shall be entitled to receive a life pension based on the
number of years of payment of the premium, and irrespective of the limitations
specified in the Article (11) of the Social Security Law as well as the shares
stipulated in Article (83) of the same law.
2- Should an insured with a
record of payment of premium from one to ten years dies after the inception of
this law, the survivors shall be entitled to receive a one-time fixed severance
equal to one month of minimum wage of an unskilled labor per each year of
paying the premium and proportionate to the share stipulated in Article (83) of
the Social Security Law.
ARTICLE 40- In order to
execute the mandates of this Chapter, an appropriate organizational structure
for the social security system shall be drawn up jointly by the Plan and Budget
Organization and the State Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization
with due consideration of the following principles, and shall be submitted to
the Islamic Consultative Assembly for enacting:
A- Abatement of
overlapping functions of the existing agencies and elimination or integration
of parallel entities, as the case may require.
B- Provision of a
comprehensive social insurance system to cover the entire population.
C- Enhancing efficiency
and effectiveness of the relevant agencies, and reducing administrative and
supportive costs of the whole system of the social security.
D- Provision of a
mechanism necessary for establishing coordination among relevant agencies and
unifying policy-making at the highest executive decision-making level.
E- Effective utilization
of the resources of charity organizations , people’s contributions, and
Endowments (Vaqf), and also those of the urban and rural Islamic councils and
religious centers.
F- Full utilization of
existing agencies, and abstention from creating new agencies.
ARTICLE 41-In order to
increase the return on investments and to reduce the current expenditures, the
insurance agencies are obliged to take the following actions:
A- New investments by
insurance agencies shall have technical and economical justification and bear a
desirable return. In the
case of unsatisfactory return, the agencies are obliged to either undertake to
improve the structure of the investment or to divest the assets content of this
Item.
B- The extent of
employment posts and manpower of the insurance agencies and the administrative
and overhead expenditures shall be determined on the basis of the criteria and
in proportion to the insured persons and their respective distribution. These criteria shall be approved by the
Cabinet.
ARTICLE 42- All the
insured persons (except personnel of the Armed Forces and Ministry of Intelligence) may change
the insurer agency. Transfer of
insurance premium and insurance deductions among the insurance funds shall be
made on the basis of the criteria to be prepared within a maximum period of six
months by the State Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization,
Ministry of Health, Medicare and Medical Education, on the proper actuarial
basis, and shall be approved by the Cabinet.
ARTICLE 43-In order to
improve the arrangement and the provision of the services to the War veterans ( the honored families of the
war martyrs, missing devotees, prisoners of the war, liberated ex-prisoners of
the war, and disabled combatants) a comprehensive plan for provision of the
services including a system of payment of life pension and salary to the War
veterans shall be drawn up by the Plan and Budget Organization, the State
Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization and the related
institutions, and shall be implemented upon approval of the Cabinet, using
internal resources of the institutions and the related entities and the general
budget.
Note 1- To improve the
arrangement and the provision of services to the deprived and vulnerable, and reorganize delivery of the services
in an integrated manner, all the supportive services to the deprived and
vulnerable shall be provided by the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, whereas all
the rehabilitation services to the disabled shall be provided by the Welfare
Organization.
Note 2- Application of
the provisions of this Article to the institutions under the auspices of the Supreme
Leader will require his
confirmation.
ARTICLE 44- In order to
prevent and alleviate impacts of the natural disasters, to create necessary
public preparedness, to determine the proper role and mandates of the executive
bodies to withstand, and counteract to, natural events and disasters, the Red
Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran is required to prepare a
comprehensive relief and rescue plan in collaboration with Ministry of the
Interior, Resistance Mobilization Forces, and in cooperation with other
relevant agencies during the first year of the Plan and have it approved by the
Cabinet. This plan shall include:
Crisis management, training and public preparedness, manner of participation of the executive agencies, the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization, the mass media operational activities, financial and procurement resources , etc.
Note: The Bassij
Resistance Forces shall henceforth be appointed as a member of the State Corps
of Unexpected Events.
ARTICLE 45- All
commercial insurance companies are authorized to offer general and
supplementary social insurance services.
ARTICLE 46-
A- The subsidy program
implemented within the Second Plan period for the primary goods consisting of the
number of coupons, quantities and prices of wheat, rice, vegetable oil, sugar,
cheese, medicine and dry milk, shall be continued during the Third Plan.
Government is required
to include in the annual budget, in form of local currency, the per capita
subsidy payments for the primary goods as implemented in the Second Plan.
B- The Organization for
Protection of the Producers and the Consumers is charged with establishing
differentials of the imported goods that have considerable advantages, as
declared by Ministry of Commerce and upon necessary computation, and transfer
the accrued revenue to the Treasury. Government may , upon proposal by the
Ministry of Commerce and approval of the Economic Council, utilize one hundred
percent (100%) of the collected
hold back pays to finance the subsidy payment for goods and services that
require public subsidy.
ARTICLE 47- Subsidies of
the agricultural input such as fertilizer, pesticides, and seeds, will continue
to be paid. Government is required to determine the guaranteed prices of the primary
commodities in a manner that by the end of the Third Plan the guaranteed
purchase prices equal the cost of importing the same commodities.