In the first reading, the Verkhovna Rada supported draft law No. 12209, which is aimed at creating a comprehensive system of social support for persons with disabilities. About this reported Yaroslav Zheleznyak, first deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Tax and Customs Policy. 230 People’s Deputies voted for the bill. The document introduces the status of “ability to work” alongside the status of “disability”.
The new approach includes:
- assessment of the impact of functional limitations on a person’s ability to work;
- integration of work capacity assessment into the rehabilitation process.
An individual approach to rehabilitation is provided, which takes into account the personal needs of individuals. It includes the use of assistive devices, social services, free medication, and retraining programs. Assessment of working capacity is carried out after the completion of a full course of rehabilitation.
Among the key innovations, the following stand out:
- automatic accrual of insurance payments for persons with the status of “permanent total disability”, with the possibility of their adjustment depending on other sources of income;
- support in employment, training or retraining for persons with the status of “permanent partial limitation of working capacity”;
- introduction of remote and anonymous assessment of work capacity, which is conducted on the basis of data without personal identification.
The draft law also provides for an increase in financial support during rehabilitation, in particular, an increase in payments to persons who have temporarily lost their ability to work due to illness or injury. In complex cases, payments can last up to one year. A one-time insurance payment will be provided in the event of an accident at work or an occupational disease, regardless of how it affected the victim’s ability to work.
