Senate approves extension of government obligation to pay INSS lawsuit expertise

The Senate approved this Wednesday (9) a bill to try to solve the problem of paralysis of judicial medical expertise in the INSS (National Institute of Social Security).

The bill, symbolically approved, extends the payment by the Executive to the respective courts of expert fees in actions in which the INSS is a party.

The proposal goes to a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.

Since the end of last year, INSS policyholders who have sought justice to obtain disability benefits —such as disability retirement or sick pay—have not responded to their requests. This is because the expertise activities were paralyzed, due to non-payment of fees.

The problem was related to the expiry of legislation. Approved in 2019, the law determined that the federal government should bear the costs of expert fees in actions involving the INSS.

This determination for the Executive to bear the costs was already aimed at correcting a difficulty of the judiciary to pay these payments, impacted since 2016 with the imposition of the spending ceiling.

However, this law provided for this payment on an exceptional and temporary basis. Therefore, it expired in September last year, paralyzing the forensic activities.

“Since then, judicial medical expertise has been practically paralyzed, which impacts legal proceedings on the granting of disability benefits, such as sick pay or disability retirement”, explained the proposal’s rapporteur, Senator Nelsinho Trad (PSD-MS) .

The approved proposal extends the payments of expert fees in these lawsuits involving the INSS until December 31, 2024.

Nelsinho Trad also reported that he had a meeting with the president of the Brazilian Institute of Medical Expertise, Ana Carolina de Almeida Couto, who argued that approximately 55,000 lawsuits were stalled or about to be stopped due to lack of technical reports.

“It is an absurd situation, which cannot continue, a situation that transforms into charity something that is a citizen’s right and a duty of the State”, added the rapporteur.

In judicial cases involving the INSS, expertise is necessary to verify and determine the insured’s inability to carry out their professional activities, both temporarily and permanently.

The expert examinations are carried out by the Federal Court in cases of social security sick pay and disability retirement. In cases where the benefit is considered accidental, that is, resulting from an accident or illness at work, the action takes place in the State Courts.