The Ombudsman warned this Monday of “significant delays” in the issuance of universal medical disability certificates (AMICs) and of “several unresolved problems” in the system for assessing the disability of people with disabilities.
In the AMIM review report and recommendations, Maria Lucia Amaral highlights the progress made in the issuance of medical certificates and recalls that since 2012 there has been a “significant increase in the number of requests for certificates.”
“There was no response from health authorities to this increase, so delays in JMAI medical examinations for people with disabilities increased, a situation that worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic and which continued to be left out,” the document said. published this Monday.
The Ombudsman’s Office has received around 1,500 complaints about AMIM over the past five years, making “several recommendations”.
Systematizing a set of comments and suggestions based on the complaints received, Maria Lucia Amaral noted that, according to the Regional Health Directorates (RHA), there were “delays of more than three years” in the conduct of exams. JMAI, especially in the areas of the North, Centre, Lisbon and Tagus Valley.
According to the law, JMAI examinations must be carried out within 60 days from the date of filing an application for a disability assessment of people with disabilities.
To strengthen the public’s ability to respond, the Ombudsman advocated simplifying “the disability assessment procedure by introducing the ability for a single physician to carry out the assessment.”
Currently, the assessment of the incapacity of disabled people is carried out by medical commissions, which must include three doctors.
Maria Lucia Amaral also urgently demanded to guarantee “the regular functioning of a commission for the standardization and monitoring of disability assessments and a centralized database for the collection and processing of information related to medical commissions.”
The Ombudsman also recommended that “prioritization criteria be established when planning JMAIs, namely the prioritization of those intended for first assessment.”
Regarding specific situations, Maria Lucia Amaral asked for it to be clarified “unambiguously that the special regime for issuing AMIM to cancer patients – and in other normatively provided specific cases – also applies outside the SNS, establishing which act accordingly.”
The Responsible Person also stated that the AMIM requires that “autonomous motor disability, regardless of its origin, must be proven in all persons who have an effective functional disability for mobility” and that “the possibility of posthumous recognition of disability” is established. which, due to delays on the part of the state, was not certified in a timely manner.”
Maria Lucia Amaral also wrote that “it is necessary to establish a transition period to preserve all the rights and benefits of people who, as a result of a verification or reassessment process, see that their level of disability falls below the minimum limit for access to rights and benefits.” they enjoyed themselves.”
It is also necessary to clarify in law and administratively that payment of Social Inclusion (PSI) benefits in various entitlement cases is made from the beginning of the month in which the application was made, ensuring that delays caused by the state are not reflected in start date of PSI payments.
AMIM holders should also be provided with a map containing only information strictly necessary for the intended purposes for display in public and private organizations, and the current AMIM model should be reformulated using simple and accessible language.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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