Cyprus Mail 15 January 2021 - by Gina Agapiou
Parliament on Friday amended a law so that people with irreversible disabilities will no longer be required to be reassessed.
To avoid inconvenience, people with irreversible disabilities being called for a disability reassessment, the House of Representatives unanimously passed an amendment to the minimum guaranteed income act.
Under the amendment, reassessment of a person with irreversible disability will be carried out only if the person requests additional benefits or services due to a deterioration of their condition or the onset of an additional disability which has not been certified by the disability assessment committee operating within the disability assessment system.
Re-evaluation of the disability, to certify that the disabled person continues to meet the criteria and conditions as a beneficiary, shall be carried out only if new and sufficiently documented evidence comes to the attention of the department through a registered complaint submitted in writing.
The amendment also provides for the persons who make up the disability evaluation committee to inform the applicant of their first and last name, as well as their specialty and occupation, prior to any evaluation.
The 44 MPs present voted in favour of the amendment.
The changes concern a long-standing request of people with permanent disabilities and politicians who had said the re-evaluation process was pointless and arduous.
The law was passed following its review once it was sent back to parliament as unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers by president Nicos Anastasiades just ten days before the parliamentary elections on May 30, 2021.
