The INSS (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social) will begin a fine-tooth comb of disability benefits paid to policyholders who are part of the agency’s Professional Rehabilitation Program. Workers who receive sick pay or disability retirement can be referred to rehabilitation.
According to ordinance 1,514, published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Tuesday (1st), insured persons undergoing rehabilitation who have not undergone expertise for more than a year must be part of the review. The duration of the review is six months, until April 2023.
The INSS informs that 45,000 beneficiaries will be summoned, out of a total of 150,000 insured persons who have been referred or are already completing the Professional Rehabilitation Program. According to the agency, this is the resumption of a procedure that had been suspended in the pandemic.
The current call will reach everyone in the rehabilitation process who have their benefit date expired or close to expiring. “It is good to point out that people who have been referred for professional rehabilitation and never seek the INSS should seek APS [Agência da Previdência Social] where the benefit is maintained”, says a note from the institute.
During the period in which the procedure lasts, citizens must be summoned to undergo a medical examination. It was not disclosed how this call will be made, but experts say it could be by letter or email. It is necessary to keep the data up to date at the institute.
In cases where the expert’s queue is longer than six months, an internal procedure will be opened to inform beneficiaries how to act to schedule the exam and not lose the benefit. The INSS informs that, since September, the program’s teams were already programming the expertise.
What to do if you are summoned to the INSS’s fine-tooth comb
According to Joseane Zanardi, coordinator of the IBDP (Brazilian Institute of Social Security Law), the most important thing is for the insured to keep their personal data updated at the INSS, through the Meu INSS app or website. The main information that must be up to date are home address, telephone and email address.
Whoever is summoned must schedule the expertise and go to the medical examination on the scheduled day, under penalty of losing the benefit if he misses it. If you receive the summons and do not schedule the expertise, the benefit must be blocked, suspended and, later, it can be cut.
On the day of the medical examination, it is necessary to prove the incapacity, if it still persists, with a certificate, medical report, exams and medication prescriptions. It is also necessary to prove, in the expertise, that you need to finish a specific course to rehabilitate and return to the job market.
Disability benefits are reviewed
Adriane Bramante, president of the IBDP, says that the review is part of a fine-toothed process by the INSS in all services related to disability benefits. “This fine-tooth comb has already been done in aid for temporary incapacity, in disability retirement, in accident aid and, now, in professional rehabilitation.”
Lawyer Rômulo Saraiva, columnist for Sheetstates that, within a period of six months, until April 2023, an internal fine-tooth comb will initially be carried out to identify those who have not undergone an expert examination for more than a year and, based on this information, the insured will be summoned check whether you are still disabled or not.
How does INSS Professional Rehabilitation work?
The INSS Professional Rehabilitation Program is a kind of educational assistance for the readaptation of professionals who can no longer work in the same function after becoming partially or totally incapacitated. People with disabilities can also be part of the program.
The definition of who will participate is up to the medical expert. By law, Social Security should pay for courses for the return of the professional to the market, but, in many cases, the insured pay for the courses themselves and continue receiving the disability benefit until they finish their training.
According to the INSS, all policyholders who are referred to the Vocational Rehabilitation service initially receive the benefit for a period of one year. If it is insufficient, the beneficiary remains in rehabilitation, but must undergo a reassessment of medical expertise every four months. This reassessment was not taking place due to the pandemic and is now being resumed.
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