News

19 January 2023

The Members of Parliament have adopted today, at the final second reading at a plenary session, the proposal of Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva that persons with disabilities whose certifications from Territorial Expert Medical Commissions (TEMCs) expire and are forced to wait for re-examinations at least half a year until the issuance of a new one will not lose their rights but will continue to receive their invalidity pensions. Furthermore, any financial and earmarked support will not be suspended, including free vignette stickers, right to personal assistance, assistance support, a number of tax reliefs.

Legislative amendments to the Persons with Disabilities Act and the Health Act put forward by Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva and supported by GERB-UDF MPs Denitsa Sacheva, Iliana Zhekova and Kostadin Angelov have been adopted unanimously today.

The amendments are crucial because they will guarantee that, in the event of delay of TEMCs, persons with disabilities will no longer be left without financial support; however, to ensure that their social benefits will be paid on time, future TEMC decisions will need to be issued within three months or they will be considered overdue.

Regional Health Inspections will be obligated to submit information to the National Social Security Institution, the National Health Insurance Fund, the Social Assistance Agency, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the National Revenue Agency and municipalities by the 20th day of each month.

Regional Health Inspections will now be obligated to submit information about the need for a person to appear before a TEMC at least four months before the expiry of an expert decision. Stakeholders, on their part, will need to lodge an application for re-examination not later than three months before the validity of the medical document expires.

The bill also envisages that people who continue to receive their pensions and other types of support and later have their fitness to work, type and degree of disability determined in such a way as to result in a reduction or cancelation of support will not need to reimburse any amounts received in excess.

The most important aspect is that the amendments will also cover pending proceedings where there is a delay and people will not lose their rights.

The Members of Parliament have also supported another change proposed by Prof. Kovacheva – the right to monthly financial support in the maximum amount under Article 70 (5) of the Persons with Disabilities Act to be granted to people who have been given a hereditary pension on the account of the death of a parent rather than one for invalidity.

The same will apply to people with disability of more than 90% and entitled to assistance who receive a war invalidity pension. Until now, the pensions were close to their social ones in amount. The matter concerns 147 war invalids who were underpaid more than 130 levs a month and, as of this year, more than 160 levs. These are citizens who have served their country in war and the Union of War Invalids and War Victims has tried to have this change adopted as of 2019.

Upon the proposal of We Continue the Change MPs, today’s decision will make it possible for people with pensions for civil invalidity entitled to assistance to receive monthly support as the one for war invalids. These are citizens who suffered damage while they were serving their country or by accident, as a result of actions of authorities in the performance of the official tasks of these authorities. At present, approximately 13 people in Bulgaria have such a pension.