The Plenum of the Parliament unanimously passed an amendment to the law on Minimum Guaranteed Income, in order to avoid the harassment of persons with permanent irreversible disability, who were called for reassessment of disability for benefit purposes. 44 Members present voted in favour
[/P]Also under the amendment, the persons constituting the Disability Assessment Committee are required to inform the applicant of their first and last name, as well as their specialty and occupation, prior to any assessment.
It is clarified that if a person with a disability makes a new application for an additional benefit or service due to a deterioration of his/her condition or other additional needs, and the benefit or service requires certification of his/her additional rights, a reassessment of that person's disability shall be carried out.
The reassessment of disability to certify that the person with a disability continues to meet the criteria and conditions as a beneficiary shall be made only if newer and sufficiently substantiated information comes to the attention of the department through a named complaint submitted in writing.
EDEK MP Andreas Apostolou said that he had requested a postponement of the passage of this bill before Christmas, since there was disagreement from the disability movement and after consultations with the relevant departments there was a small change that received their support. She added that it is very important that policies have the agreement and consensus of people with disabilities.
The MP of the Ecologist Movement - Citizens' Co-operation Alexandra Attalidou, said that the state must ensure the dignity of these people who often wait to answer a phone that they have been waiting for months and their dignity is often affected by the way the public service responds. He added that the state should train all those involved in this area of social policy in this regard.
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou ELAM described the bill as very important noting that there was a very offensive distortion of the law and people were experiencing humiliating procedures. He added that it was a positive step but other distortions that existed should be regulated and resolved. He further said that people with genuine problems were being denied benefits because their disability was moderate.
DPA - Cooperation MP Marinos Mousiuttas said the bill is in the right direction as it removes the anonymity of medical boards that examine people with disabilities and people who have irreversible disabilities do not have to repeat the soul-crushing examination by medical boards.
DIKO MP Christos Seneckis said that a similar law proposal initiated by MP Pavlos Mylonas was passed by the Parliament last year but was referred by the President of the Republic to the Supreme Court and that is how the bill came about. He added that they support the law because it ends a distortion.
AKEL MP Andreas Kavkalias said that a great effort was made in the Labour Committee to come up with an acceptable regulation that satisfies everyone and breaks the deadlock after the President of the Republic's decision to make a reference to the law passed by the Parliament last April. He added that the outcome is positive and AKEL is voting in favour, stating that they will monitor the implementation of this law in practice.
DISY MP Onoufrios Koula said that today a delicate issue is being resolved, a problem on which everyone agrees, so that our fellow citizens with permanent disabilities do not have to be re-examined by medical boards.
Source: CNA
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