The Act on the supporting benefit, signed by President Andrzej Duda, provides for a remodeling of the existing system of benefits for people with disabilities and their caregivers by introducing into the legal system, as of January 1, 2024, a new supporting benefit intended directly for persons with disabilities, and by modifying the conditions for granting the nursing care benefit.

The nursing benefit and changes in the system of benefits for caregivers of people with disabilities

Important amendments have been made to the Act on family benefits with regard to the conditions for granting the nursing benefit. After the amendments, the nursing benefit will be granted to parents or other persons caring for disabled children up to the age of 18, without any restriction on taking up work or other gainful employment.

In addition, the caregivers’ collection of their own pension and disability benefits will have no effect on their right to receive to the nursing benefit. All foster families, those running family orphanages, and directors of foster care facilities will also be able to apply for the nursing benefit.

Higher benefits for more children with disabilities

Another important change is the introduction of a higher amount of the nursing benefit for families with more than one child with a disability - to implement another demand of caregivers of people with disabilities, an amendment was introduced, according to which if a parent/caregiver cares for more than one child with a disability, the nursing benefit will be increased by 100 percent for the second and each additional child with disabilities.

We are fully implementing the Constitutional Court’s ruling of October 21, 2014 by deleting from the Act on family benefits the provision that hitherto made the right to the nursing benefit dependent on the date of the onset of the disability in the person requiring care - pointed out Paweł Wdówik, the Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policy and government representative for persons with disabilities.

Protection of the vested rights of caregivers

The amendments also introduced a full and very broad protection of the vested rights of caregivers of people with disabilities who have acquired, or will acquire under the old rules in effect before the act’s entry into force (until December 31, 2023), the right to the nursing benefit, the special care allowance, or the caregiver’s allowance. Such persons, if they so wish, will be able to continue to receive the said benefits in accordance with the previous regulations, including in the event of obtaining another disability certificate or starting of another benefit period.

Important! Applying for the nursing benefit does not entail the need for a person with a disability to obtain any new decisions - as before, the only thing needed is a certificate confirming a disability, with appropriate indications (for children), or a severe disability certificate (for persons 16-18 years old).

The new supporting benefit

The benefit policy will be aimed at empowering the person with a disability to decide for himself or herself how the support he or she receives is to be used. The conditions for granting the new supporting benefit are also in line with the expectations and needs of the community of people with disabilities to differentiate the amount of support according to the individual support needs - pointed out Paweł Wdówik, the government representative for people with disabilities.

The benefit will be paid by the Social Insurance Institution.