On Thursday, 22 December, the Saeima adopted in the final reading an urgent law, introducing the right of the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability (hereinafter – SMC) to extend an individual’s pre-established disability group for the application processing period.

From now on, the SMC will be able to extend an individual’s pre-established disability group up to a period of six months while the individual’s application for repeated disability examination is still being processed and the SMC has not yet made a decision.

As noted in the explanatory note of the Draft Law, the Law will ensure that an individual’s disability status will not be terminated during the application processing period and the right of people with disabilities to timely support to alleviate the consequences of disability in the form of financial aid, services, and exemptions will be protected.

Authors of the Draft Law at the Ministry of Welfare had previously noted that the SMC received approximately 5300 applications every month. Over 6500 applications were received in November 2022.

The Law will enter into force on the day following its promulgation.

Saeima Press Service