INSS changes president after nearly two years

The federal government published on Friday (5) the resignation of Leonardo Rolim from the post of president of the INSS (National Social Security Institute). Rolim has been in charge of the autarchy since January of last year and will become the Social Security secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare.

Rolim’s place will be occupied by José Carlos Oliveira, who has a degree in business administration and has been a civil servant at the INSS since July 1985. Since May, he has held the position of director of benefits at the INSS. He has also served as regional superintendent for the Southeast and executive manager in São Paulo.

It is the second time that Rolim will occupy the Social Security secretariat. He leaves the INSS presidency with a queue of approximately 1.8 million requests for benefits throughout Brazil. According to the agency’s press office, between 800,000 and 1 million new requests are made every month, including all types of benefits.

Of the new orders, about 25% fall in demand requests. Until October, the average time for analyzing resources involving pensions was 411 days.

Rolim’s administration at the head of the INSS was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the sanitary crisis caused by the coronavirus, the INSS agencies were closed, which made the service difficult.

Without carrying out an expert examination, the agency was anticipating the granting of sick pay without it being necessary to go through a face-to-face expert examination for those who applied online and presented medical reports proving the health problem.

The advance was in the amount of one minimum wage (R$1,045 last year and R$1,100 in 2021). Subsequently, if it was proven that the insured was entitled to a benefit of greater value, the difference would be paid.

Also in 2020, the then president had to deal with a strike by medical experts, who refused to return to work in person at the agencies, claiming that there were no sanitary conditions to guarantee the safety of professionals and policyholders.

One of Rolim’s last actions as president of the INSS was the modification of the proof of life system. In October, the municipality decided that the procedure will have to be done in the month of the insured’s birthday. Proof of life, however, is suspended until the end of this year because of the pandemic.

The INSS and the Ministry of Labor and Welfare were contacted by the Now to comment on the change in the authority’s command, but they did not manifest themselves until the publication of this report.