Reduction of benefits: Ministry of Health aims to ‘cancel’ disability status

In Ukraine, there is a proposal to “abolish” disability. According to the Minister of Health, Viktor Lyashko, speaking at a recent briefing in Zhytomyr, the Ministry of Health plans to abandon the term “disability” and replace it with an “assessment of a person’s loss of functionality.” However, the change in terminology is not the only aspect of this initiative.

The Ministry of Health is already preparing a draft law that will outline a new methodology for determining the status of Ukrainians with various health conditions. The main goal, as stated by Lyashko, is to return individuals to an “economic state,” in other words, to make every effort to enable them to become employable once again.

As the minister pointed out, currently, after being declared disabled, citizens have the right to certain benefits and compensations. “But we didn’t ask what the person wants, we only say what we can provide to them. This is a post-Soviet model from which we need to move away,” Lyashko stated.

Back in May, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved a program for reforming medical and sanitary commissions, which had recently faced numerous criticisms, including issues related to the sale of medical certificates and the granting of fictitious disability statuses.

It can be assumed that this reform is intended to tighten the government’s control over disability claims. The primary motivations here are not necessarily the well-being of the people, but two other significant factors.

Firstly, it’s about reducing the state’s expenses on payments to disabled individuals, the number of which has increased significantly during the ongoing war.

Secondly, it aims to eliminate (or at least complicate) schemes where medical commissions issued fictitious disability statuses, thereby granting people exemptions from military service.

So, what does this extensive reform regarding disability status entail, and why are the authorities pursuing it right now, during a period of ongoing conflict in the country?

“Firstly, Ukrainian legislation on this topic is outdated. For example, the Labor Code stipulates that employers must hire people with disabilities even without a probationary period. These individuals are also challenging to terminate, which imposes an additional burden on businesses. Secondly, we already have around 3 million disabled individuals. Of those, only about 430,000 are employed, and all of them are entitled to state payments. However, the war is not over yet, and, unfortunately, the number of disabled individuals will continue to rise. This is a significant burden on the state’s social system, and it appears that the authorities will attempt to change the philosophy of these payments,” says Oleksiy Miroshnychenko, the head of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine.

To recap, disability payments in Ukraine are as follows: for the first group, it’s 100% of the pension the person would receive at retirement age (linked to their pre-disability income); for the second group, it’s 90%, and for the third group, it’s 50%. Additionally, a person can claim these payments with just one year of insurance coverage. If they lack this coverage, they are eligible for a social allowance at the subsistence level. The average pension in Ukraine is currently around 5,300 hryvnias, which means that payments for 3 million disabled individuals amount to approximately 15.9 billion hryvnias per year. As the number of disabled individuals increases, this already substantial sum will grow even larger.

“Currently, payments are tied to the disability group. They are determined based on a list of conditions, without considering how an individual actually feels, whether they can work, and so on. The new scheme envisions a differentiated approach. If you are mobile and can earn a living, you won’t receive as much as someone with a similar condition but in a more severe state. The calculation is based on the idea that rehabilitation can quickly restore a person to working condition. For example, if a person without a leg receives a prosthetic, their ‘loss of functionality’ may not be assessed as significant, and it may be stated that they can work in an office. Currently, with such a condition, a serious disability status is granted, and accordingly, a pension,” says Oleg Pendzin, the head of the Economic Discussion Club.