Humana Assistans AB has appealed and requested suspension of IVO's decision to revoke the company's permit
On 31 January 2023, IVO decided to revoke Humana Assistans AB's ("Humana Assistans") permit to conduct operations with personal assistance and other services. According to the decision, Humana Assistans must cease operations on 10 February 2023 at the latest. Humana Assistans has appealed to the Administrative Court in Stockholm and requested suspension of the Swedish Health and Social Care Inspectorate’s (“IVO”) decision to revoke the company's permit. Humana Assistans is working intensively to get IVO's decision suspended before 10 February 2023.
Humana Assistans believes that IVO's decision is incorrect for several reasons and that it is not in line with the legislation. The review process has been long drawn out and characterized by lack of communication and lack of transparency, even though Humana Assistans repeatedly requested dialogue. Prior to the decision, IVO reviewed the company for two years without pointing out any deficiency that poses a danger to our customers health or other immediate risk.
-Basically, it is good that we and other personal assistance providers in the industry are being scrutinised, but the arbitrariness of IVO’s assessment and the unclear interpretation of the regulatory framework are problematic. Paradoxically, therefore, we believe that both IVO and Humana can gain from a judicial review of IVO’s decision, says Johanna Rastad, Humana's President and CEO.
IVO's decision is primarily based on three parts: reclaims from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Sw. Försäkringskassan), responsibility regarding foreign labor and compliance IVO:s previously closed decisions.
The decision is mainly based on 27 reclaims in which the Swedish Social Insurance Agency has retroactively changed its opinion on customers' care needs and on its own decisions regarding customers' need for assistance. The reclaims go back up to 10 years and amount to approximately three per mille of Humana Assistans’ turnover during the period. Most of the decisions of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency on which the reclaims are based upon have not gained legal effect. At present, Humana Assistans has appealed reclaims amounting to approximately SEK 40 million, which has resulted in repayment obligation amounting to approximately SEK 1m. Humana Assistans considers it remarkable that ongoing reclaims, attributable to a very small part of the operations, can set the base for the revocation of a permit that have far-reaching societal effects.
IVO:s assessment regarding responsibility for foreign labor affects three employees out of Humana Assistans' approximately 11,000 employees. All three have previously been in Sweden working for other employers or for studies. Two of the three persons were permitted to work for other employers but had not obtained a permit to work at Humana Assistans. As soon as Humana Assistans gained knowledge that these people were lacking work permits, Humana Assistans acted. In one of the cases, the person did not even start its position.
Since 2018, IVO has followed up on four cases where it has reviewed deficiencies in Humana Assistans' operations. In all these cases, IVO has accepted the measures taken by Humana Assistans and closed the cases. Humana Assistans considers it to be remarkable that these closed cases are now being invoked again as a basis for revoking the permit.
Humana intends to continuously update regarding the legal process.
For more information, please contact:
Johanna Rastad
President and CEO
070 748 20 44, johanna.rastad@humana.se
Ewelina Pettersson
Head of Investor Relations
073 074 79 12, ewelina.pettersson@humana.se
Humana is a leading Nordic care company providing services within individual and family care, personal assistance, elderly care and special service housing in accordance with LSS. Humana has 18,000 employees in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark providing care for 9,000 individuals and working to achieve the vision “Everyone is entitled to a good life”. In 2021, Humana’s operating revenue was SEK 8,188m. Humana is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and the company’s headquarters are located in Stockholm. Read more about Humana on: https://www.humanagroup.com/