> In my own country, thankfully, we get paid time off if we're sick. If we're sick long-term (I don't know what the cutoff is), the employer has to pay us 70% of wages for a year, after which the government takes over

1y sounds like a long time, esp for smaller companies (like if you have say 5 ppl on a payroll). I wonder if they can insure against such a risk (say if an insurer can cover the salary if absence longer than a month).

In Poland this is 70% (if in hospital), 80% (if general sick leave), and 100% (pregnancy related). Your employer covers this for 34 days, then the social insurance takes over. IIRC if the absence is over 6 months, then the social insurance stops paying % of your salary and pays some low fixed disability benefit.