Social protection of persons with special needs - expansion of categories

People with disabilities of groups I and II, disabled people from childhood of groups I and II and children with disabilities will be able to receive free from the state anti-decubitus mattresses and pillows, chairs with sanitary equipment (1 time in 3 years), as well as receive a monthly payment for the purchase of diapers and disposable diapers, urine and colostomy bags. You must have a certificate from the medical advisory commission confirming the right to provide it in order to receive special care products and monthly payments.

The legislative initiative belongs to the Government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The Supreme Council adopted law-in-draft on amendments and additions to the law "On Social Protection of the Disabled" in the first reading on April 12. It was proposed in the original version of the law-in-draft to give the right to provide at the expense of the state budget with special means of care for disabled people of group I and people with disabilities from childhood of group I. The Committee on Social Policy and Health of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic prepared for the second reading the amendments, according to which disabled people of group II of a general disease, occupational disease, labor injury and disabled since childhood of group II will also be able to receive special care products and monthly payments.

According to the data of the Ministry of Health of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, 153 disabled and immobile children with disabilities, as well as 301 disabled people of group I, live in the republic as of May 1, 2022. It will be necessary to allocate 5 million 917 thousand 788 rubles a year from the republican budget to provide these categories of disabled people with diapers, disposable diapers, urinals, colostomy bags and other necessary care products, 845 thousand 967 rubles per year to provide anti-decubitus mattresses, pillows and sanitary chairs once every three years. Funding for the provision of care products for people with disabilities of group I and people with disabilities from childhood of group I was initially included in the budget for 2023, so the norms will come into force 14 days after the official publication. The provision of special means of care is provided for disabled people of the II group and disabled since childhood of the II group from January 1, 2024, with the beginning of the new financial year.

The amendments adopted today to the law “On the Social Protection of the Disabled” introduce a new concept of “technical means of rehabilitation”. These are special means for transportation (wheelchairs), special means for training (literature for the blind), special means for care (anti-decubitus mattresses and pillows, diapers, disposable diapers, urinals, colostomy bags, chairs with sanitary equipment), prosthetic products (orthopedic shoes, prosthetic eyes, hearing aids, eyeglasses).

A unified register of persons with disabilities will operate from January 1, 2024, which will accumulate information about the disability group, disability, impaired body functions and the degree of loss of professional ability to work. The amendment was adopted in the second reading by the PMR Prosecutor, according to which the unified register of disabled people will also contain information on benefits, types and amounts of social assistance provided to a person with special needs.