"After a year, a child may no longer be disabled." Medical examiners criticize the regulations.

• In June, an amendment to the MRPiPS regulation came into force, according to which disability certificates for persons under 16 years of age will be issued for a period of 3 years.
• Medical examiners strongly disagree with the assumption that every child up to 16 years of age should receive a disability certificate for a minimum of 3 years.
• The experience of medical examiners shows that as a result of treatment, therapy and rehabilitation, after a year or two the child may no longer be disabled, or due to improved functioning there may be a justified change in the indications in the certificate.

In June, an amendment to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy regulation came into effect, stipulating that disability certificates for people with rare and genetic diseases will be issued for a longer period. Under the new regulations, the minimum period for a certificate for people under 16 is three years.

The regulations also specify the minimum validity periods for certificates for persons over 16 years of age: 7 years - in the case of rare genetic diseases (according to the annex to the regulation, this applies to 208 diseases, including congenital hydrocephalus, cystic fibrosis or spinal muscular atrophy) or Down syndrome.

The amendment is intended not only to relieve the burden on people with disabilities and their families, but also to reduce the workload of adjudicating teams. Currently, there are 16 provincial and 295 district adjudicating teams in Poland.

However, not everyone considers the amendment to be justified.

The medical examiners we spoke with on this topic strongly disagree with the assumption that every child under 16 should receive a disability certificate for a minimum of three years. This is because each situation is individual, and children, as a result of therapy, treatment, and rehabilitation, can achieve a different functional status in a shorter period than the three-year period specified in the regulation.

- says Adam Szyma, chairman of the trade union of employees of adjudicating teams and secretary of the team in Żywiec, in an interview with prawo.pl.

He emphasizes that, in accordance with the regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 1 February 2002 regarding the criteria for assessing disability in persons under 16 years of age, the provision that a child’s disability must be assessed for a period of no less than 12 months is still in force.

We also read on prawo.pl that the association submitted comments during the consultations on the draft regulation, but they were not taken into account.

The experience of medical examiners indicates that, as a result of treatment, therapy, and rehabilitation, a child may no longer be disabled after a year or two, or that improved functioning may result in a justified change to the indications in the decision, for example, in point 7 (which entitles them to care benefits – ed.). Some of them explicitly stated that they will issue a negative decision if they determine that the disability has lasted less than three years. Furthermore, in our opinion, this provision may create unjustified costs for the state budget resulting from the payment of financial benefits to individuals who are not entitled to them.

– wrote the union.

Trade unionists are also asking how to regulate cases of children diagnosed with autism after a single doctor's visit, not necessarily a specialist, although such cases do occur. Should a disability be assessed for three years after a single visit?

It should be noted that the principles and criteria for disability assessments, as well as the regulations in this regard, are the responsibility of the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Persons with Disabilities. Therefore, as union representatives emphasize, this is not the responsibility of the district adjudicating panels. District adjudicating panels are not responsible for decisions issued by adjudicating panels. Medical examiners and specialists are trained according to the guidelines of the Plenipotentiary's Office at the provincial adjudicating panels.

Disability certifications entitle individuals to a wide range of benefits. These include care benefits, care allowances, tax relief (e.g., the ability to deduct care expenses under the rehabilitation tax credit); priority access to social and care services; access to healthcare services, such as rehabilitation and spa treatment; and the right to a parking card; and additional educational support (e.g., access to a school assistant or an individualized learning program).

Data from the National Electronic Monitoring System for Disability Assessments shows that the number of people with disabilities under 16 years of age with permanent assessments is 71,300. The remaining group – nearly 192,000 – have fixed-term assessments, and it is this group that may benefit from the changes.

In turn, the number of people with disabilities after the age of 16 with permanent disability certificates is 1.72 million, and for a fixed period - 1.24 million.