After the insistent claims made by patients and relatives, the Government confirmed this Sunday that as of today, but within the framework of a "progressive, gradual and phased" implementation, the Unique Certificates of Disability (CUD) will be issued
without expiration
.
For those who have it, this element is key to drug coverage or to access the right to travel free of charge on public transport.
"State that the Single Certificate of Disability will be granted without being subject to any time period, maintaining full force and validity as long as the certifying criteria are maintained", it was provided in article 1 of Resolution 322/2023, published in the Official Gazette with the signature of the executive director of ANDIS, Fernando Gaston Galarraga.
As reported, it seeks to implement "a new dynamic for linking people with disabilities with the certification processes,
both for those who already have the CUD, and for those who process to
obtain it for the first time" "This update allows us to have a less bureaucratic, more modern and simpler tool”, explained Galarraga.
In addition to removing the expiration date, the Government aims to adopt "a proactive role to accompany people with disabilities throughout their life course."
In this direction, at the end of January of this year, the "Plan for the Promotion, Improvement and Strengthening of Disability Certification" was created, with the aim of "simplifying and optimizing" this kind of procedure.
Among the specific purposes proposed in the annex to ANDIS Resolution 113/2023, also published in the Official Gazette, were also those of “disseminating the rights and services that are accessed with the Unique Disability Certificate (CUD) ”, “strengthen the tools and resources related to certification” and “reduce the gap between certified people and the estimated population with disabilities”.
It is, it was specified, a plan that "will make it possible to provide forecasting and follow-up to the actions already developed and to be developed by the ANDIS in terms of certification" and that has as its
target population
"certified people with disabilities", as well as the “Population with disabilities estimated at 10.2% of the country's total”.
It was also clarified that it
also applied "to the environment
of people with disabilities, (family, friends and supports), civil society organizations and actors linked to the certification processes."
One week after the institution of that plan, the Government resolved to extend the validity of the CUDs that expire in 2023 for one year. The official decision also affected the certificates that expired in 2022 and that had already been issued.
The campaign promoted by patients and relatives on social networks pointed directly to the complications in the renewal.
It is that the certificates used to be issued for two years and the shifts with the Evaluating Medical Board could be seven months late, which made it necessary to start the round of procedures almost as soon as the CUD was obtained.
Some details of the first stage
The first stage will be of
immediate implementation
.
In it, the CUD will be issued without expiration in its physical and digital versions.
In parallel, the State "will make contact with the person with disabilities to accompany them and keep their data updated."
"The instances of accompaniment and updating will be carried out with a periodicity between 5 and 15 years -in all cases-, counted from the initial certification or from the corresponding update instance," it was officially explained.
With this, they will not only control their normal access to rights, benefits and services derived from the certification, but they will also have the chance to
keep the records updated
.
"The implementation of these improvements will require the adoption of various administrative, regulatory and technological measures that will be gradually formalized", it was clarified.
What rights does the CUD allow access to?
-100% coverage in rehabilitation benefits (medications, equipment, treatments).
-Free transfers on public land transport.
-Annual school aid for a child with a disability, family allowance for a child with a disability, allowance for a spouse with a disability.
-Exemption from payment of tolls, taxes (municipal, patents, among others).
-International symbol of access: free parking in the places allowed Access to the Labor Quota in the Public Administration.
IS
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