Access to disability pensions limited

From January 2005, new rules in Bulgaria have made it more difficult for people to claim disability pensions, against a background of rapidly rising numbers of recipients.

A number of amendments to the Social Insurance Code (BG0309201N) came into force at the beginning of 2005, aimed at restricting access to disability pensions. The stated reason was an alarming growth in the number of newly approved pensions for lost capacity to work, as well as a commitment made by the government to the International Monetary Fund.

Under the reform, it is no longer possible for people who already receive a 'length-of-service' or old age pension also to obtain a disability pension 'for general disease' (rather than for work-related reasons). Previously, people who became disabled after having been granted a length-of-service or old age pension could apply for a disability pension. The new restrictions do not concern cases when a disability pension is claimed on the grounds of workplace accident or occupational disease.

The amendments also strengthen controls over the medical assessments that evaluate whether there are health grounds for granting a disability pension. To this end, medical commissions are to be established at the regional units of the National Social Security Institute, whose approval must be obtained when a disability pension is to be granted. If the new commission decides that a medical assessment was incorrect, the party concerned is entitled to appeal before the competent body, seeking revision of the decision.

The implementation of these changes is expected to increase controls on granting disability pensions. According to statistics from the National Social Security Institute, since the current pensions model was introduced in Bulgaria in January 2000 (BG0308101F), the number of pensions awarded for lost capacity to work has grown rapidly from 196,315 pensions in 2000 to 332,303 in the first half of 2004.