Expansion of assistance benefit stops in lack of government regulation

Families with an income of one-quarter to half a minimum wage per person —currently, R$303 to R$606—still go to court to access the BPC (Benefício de Prestação Continuada), despite Congress having approved the expansion of the policy precisely to contemplate this group.

The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government has not yet regulated the new rules of the benefit, which is paid in the amount of a minimum wage (R$ 1,212) to the elderly over 65 and low-income people with disabilities.

The greater scope of the BPC was approved by congressmen in May 2021, in a political agreement with the government, including the economic team.

Before, the law provided for the payment of aid only to families with an income of up to a quarter of the minimum wage per person, which was frequently questioned in court.

The case ended up in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which, in 2013, established the understanding that the income of a quarter of the minimum wage is insufficient as a criterion for measuring the vulnerability of the citizen.

After years of discussions, the new law was enacted in June 2021, providing that the criteria would apply from January 1, 2022.

However, implementation involves a permanent increase in expenses, of approximately R$2 billion per year, to include about 180,000 beneficiaries. In order to comply with the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law), the government needs to offset this amount with cuts in other spending.

An MP (provisional measure) with initiatives to close gaps left in the Social Security reform, enacted in 2019, was prepared by government technicians and sent to the Civil House for analysis.

The expectation was that the savings made possible by the MP would be the source of compensation for the regulation of the BPC. But the text is still stuck in the little corners of the Planalto, with no political decision to move forward.

The Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for implementing the BPC, confirmed that the expansion of the monthly income limit to receive the benefit depends on the regulatory decree.

“Until then, the rule in force applies, that is, for access to the BPC, the income per person of the family group must be equal to or less than a quarter of the minimum wage”, said the ministry, in a note.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security said that the tax requirements for the regulation of the BPC “will be met with the publication of the Social Security MP that is in the preparation phase”. The folder, however, did not stipulate deadlines for the adoption of measures.

Behind the scenes, government technicians regret the delay, as it punishes poorer families who need government aid resources and end up having their request denied by the INSS (National Social Security Institute).

Many resort to the courts to ask that factors such as the degree of income commitment with the purchase of medicines, diapers, special supplements or hiring caregivers, or the degree of disability of the potential beneficiary, be considered.

The decree drawn up by the technicians goes precisely in that direction, to allow families with incomes of up to half a minimum wage to also receive aid, upon proof of these situations.

The BPC currently includes 2.15 million elderly people and 2.56 million people with disabilities, with a monthly payroll totaling R$ 5.2 billion, according to data from November 2021.

At the time of the sanction, Minister João Roma (Citizenship) said that the new law would “strengthen the BPC”.

In practice, in addition to the new criteria being only on paper, the BPC is the benefit that has the longest waiting list at the INSS. The concession for people with disabilities depends on carrying out medical expertise, an activity that was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In November, the most recent data available, there were 416,200 requests for benefit awaiting medical expertise from the INSS.

In the opinion of government technicians, the combination of BPC regulation and the MP to close gaps in Social Security would be balanced measures.

On the one hand, they would correct distortions, such as the one that allows raising the value of retirement from a single contribution over the INSS ceiling (currently R$ 7,087.22) — the so-called miracle of retirement. On the other hand, they would generate the necessary resources to favor lower-income families.

Technicians recognize, however, that the social security issue is always sensitive. Therefore, the articulators of the measures preferred that they had been sent in 2021, since the political calendar of 2022 is unfavorable to this type of initiative.

Now, there are doubts about the political feasibility of proceeding with the Social Security MP. Therefore, technicians try to find other solutions, but nothing concrete has been decided.

Lawyer Liliane Alcântara, from the office of Gomes Soares de Oliveira Advogados Associados, has already represented several families in court in search of the BPC and says that the flexibility of the income criterion, as approved by Congress, would help a greater number of beneficiaries.

“We know that the volume of administrative requests is enormous, and with this regulation it would be much simpler for the population to access this benefit, and it would still greatly reduce the number of lawsuits”, he says.

Economist Marcelo Neri, director of FGV Social, from Fundação Getulio Vargas, says that the government would even have political incentives to regulate the BPC this year and expand it. He points out, however, that, from the point of view of targeting public policies and reducing poverty, the benefit is not the best alternative.

“If the objective is to fight poverty, each real spent with Bolsa Família reduces poverty 670% more than each real spent with the BPC”, he says. Bolsa Família was replaced last year by Auxílio Brasil.

According to Neri, although the injection of resources through transfers can have a positive effect on the economy, it is necessary to carefully evaluate a permanent increase in an expense that, according to estimates, does not seem so focused.

This is because the BPC is focused on the elderly and people with disabilities, a public in which poverty rates are lower than among children. “It is not about removing from the BPC what the BPC has already done, but the discussion now is what it could do”, says Neri.