INSS extends until 2022 BPC concession with video call

The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government extended until the end of 2022 the social evaluation by videoconference for the BPC (Continued Provision Benefit) concession.

The rule of applying the average standard was also renewed, a term that allows the deduction, of the gross family income, of expenses with health treatments, doctors, diapers, special foods and medicines for the person with a disability who requests the benefit.

Law 14176, of June 2021, provided that the two exceptional measures would be valid until December 31 of this year.

The extension was defined in a joint ordinance of the Ministries of Citizenship and Labor and Welfare and the INSS (National Social Security Institute) published in the Official Gazette of the Union on Wednesday (29).

The legislation that created the measures provides for the deduction of medical and food expenses in the granting or maintenance of the benefit, provided that a medical evaluation has already been carried out verifying the existence of a long-term impediment to work.

The Ministry of Citizenship says, in a note, that these procedures ensure agility in the evaluation of applications and that this will contribute to a reduction in the number of requests made to the INSS.

The BPC guarantees a monthly benefit of one minimum wage to the elderly aged 65 and over and to people with disabilities who have a per capita family income of up to ¼ of the minimum wage (in 2021, the equivalent of R$275).

For people with disabilities, the process of granting the benefit includes several stages and the social assessment with a social worker linked to the INSS is one of them.

After the law was published in June, the social service institute set up a pilot project to carry out the evaluations by video call.

Disabled policyholders awaiting evaluation by the social assistance professional started to be assisted at the branches. The social worker, however, answers remotely, through the video call.

Using the average standard, when expenses are deducted from the income calculation, the insured must present documentation provided by a doctor which must include, in addition to the identification of the interested party, information on the ongoing nature of the treatment and its relationship with the disability or the advanced age.

A statement provided by the body responsible for the health area will also be accepted, informing the non-availability of the treatment free of charge or its momentary unavailability, by the SUS (Unified Health System).​

The legislation that created these temporary exceptionalities also defined that, for some cases, the average family income per capita (how much the family has in income, divided by the number of people) can be up to half the minimum wage.

The three main criteria defined by the law are the degree of disability, dependence on third parties to perform basic activities and the level of commitment of the family budget to medical expenses, health treatments, diapers, special foods and medicines for the elderly or the person with disabilities and that are not made available free of charge by the SUS – criteria similar to the average standard.