Disability allowance [Handikappersättning]

Transcription

1 Disability allowance [Handikappersättning] If you are 19 or over, you can receive disability allowance if you need additional assistance or have additional costs due to permanent illness or disability. It is not the extent of disability that is important when you apply for this allowance but your need of assistance due to the disability. Who can receive disability allowance? [Vem kan få handikappersättning?] If you are ill or disabled, you can receive disability allowance from and including the month of July in the year that you attain the age of 19 (when entitlement to childcare allowance [vårdbidrag] ceases). In order to receive disability allowance, you must need assistance in your daily life, assistance to work or study or have additional costs due to your illness or disability. Your need of assistance must be directly linked to your disability, and it must be assistance with things that you cannot manage by yourself due to your disability. You do not have to have any particular illness or disability to receive disability allowance. However, you must have a doctor s certificate that shows that you have a disability that affects your ability to cope with your daily life, your work or your studies. You must have had your disability before the age of 65, and you must need assistance for at least a year. You may keep your disability allowance after the age of 65 if you still need assistance. You can receive disability allowance if you work in Sweden. If you do not work, you must live in Sweden to be eligible for disability allowance. The amount of the allowance [Hur mycket får man i handikappersättning?] Disability allowance is 36, 53 or 69 per cent of the price base amount [prisbasbeloppet] 1 depending on your need of assistance and how large your additional costs are due to your disability. 1 (6)

2 If you are blind [Om du är blind] If you are blind or lack locomotor vision, you receive disability allowance at SEK per year (69 per cent of the price base amount). If you also have full sickness compensation [sjukersättning] or activity compensation [aktivitetsersättning], or full old age pension [ålderspension], disability allowance will be reduced to SEK per year (36 per cent of the price base amount). You can receive a higher allowance if you have a particularly great need of assistance or high costs. Being blind or lacking locomotor vision means that a person cannot safely be in or get their bearings in an unknown environment without assistance. If you are deaf or have seriously impaired hearing [Om du är döv eller gravt hörselskadad] If you are deaf or have seriously impaired hearing, you can receive disability allowance at SEK per year (36 per cent of the price base amount). You can receive a higher allowance if you have a particularly great need of assistance or high costs. Being deaf or having seriously impaired hearing means that a person with a hearing aid cannot hear or can only hear with great difficulty what other people say. Assistance requirement and additional costs [Hjälpbehov och mer kostnader] If you only need assistance but do not have any additional costs, you must need assistance for at least two hours a day to receive disability allowance. The need of special care and continuous supervision can also be taken into account in the assessment. If you need both assistance and have additional costs, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency [Försäkringskassan] will make an overall assessment of your combined needs. Assistance with daily life [Hjälp med den dagliga livsföringen] Assistance in daily life means, for example, assistance with personal care, dressing and undressing, purchases, cooking, medication and carrying out household chores such as laundry, ironing, looking after clothes and cleaning the home. Assistance with daily life also includes travelling to work or studies. It may also consist of practical assistance at the workplace, for example, collecting files and other working material or going to and from a staff restaurant. Costs for assistance requirement in daily life [Kostnader för hjälpbehov i den dagliga livsföringen] If you need municipal cleaning assistance, you can receive disability allowance for the charges made by the municipality. In some cases, you can also receive allowance for private cleaning assistance up to the amount that corresponds to the municipal charge. However, if a relative receives allowance for assisting you in your daily life, this is not considered as a cost but as assistance time. 2 (6)

3 Additional costs [Extra kostnader] To be able to receive disability allowance due to additional costs, there must be a direct link between the costs and your disability. There must not be any other form of support that covers the costs which central government, the municipality or the county council is responsible for. It shall not either be a cost that most people have. Costs for aids [Kostnader för hjälpmedel] You can receive disability allowance, for example, for costs that you have for additional space in your home that is needed for care equipment, technical aids or as treatment rooms. You can also obtain allowance for costs for renting or purchasing aids. This also covers adaptation of computers or special computer software that you need due to your disability. Health care [Hälso- och sjukvård] You can receive disability allowance for treatments within out-patient health care that are covered by the high-cost protection scheme [högkostnadsskyddet]. High-cost protection means that you do not have to pay more than a set amount in patient charges during a year. This applies when you visit a doctor and when you receive other health care, for example treatment provided by a district nurse or a physiotherapist. Medicines [Läkemedel] You can receive disability allowance for medicines subsidised by the state which are covered by the high-cost protection scheme. High-cost protection applies to the great majority of medicines on prescription. Single-use items [Förbrukningsartiklar] Compensation may be obtained from the health service in many cases for single-use items. If you have to pay for these single-use items, you can obtain compensation for the cost in certain cases. Special diet [Specialkost] If you have additional costs for special diet which you need due to a disability, you can receive allowance for these costs. The Swedish Consumer Agency [Konsumentverket] calculates the costs of different types of special diet. To receive allowance for a special diet, it must have been prescribed for you by a doctor, dietician or the equivalent. Dental care [Tandvård] You can obtain some allowance for dental care which is due to your disability. 3 (6)

4 Travel costs [Kostnader för resor] Public transport [Allmänna kommunikationer] If you are unable to use public transport due to your disability and therefore have additional costs for travel, you can receive some allowance. This is the case, for example, if you have to use the mobility service [färdtjänst] and pay for it. You can receive allowance for the whole charge. A deduction is made for what the journeys would have cost if you had travelled on public transport. Own car [Egen bil] If you travel in your own car because you cannot use public transport, you can receive disability allowance for travel for medical purposes and treatment and for travel to and from work and studies. In the case of travel to and from studies, the allowance is reduced by an amount corresponding to what the journeys would have cost if you had used public transport. For other journeys in daily life, you can receive allowance at SEK 2,220 per year (5 per cent of the price base amount). You can receive a higher allowance if you can show that you have had higher costs. Purchase of special household equipment [Köp av särskild hushållsutrustning] If you need to buy, for example, a washing machine, dishwasher or special vacuum cleaner because of your disability, you can receive allowance for this purpose. When allowance is calculated for this kind of purchase, the cost is spread over a certain number of years. Wear and tear etc. [Slitage med mera] You can receive disability allowance if your disability leads to increased wear and tear of clothes, additional costs for washing, decoration, or equipment in the home. Different forms of housing [Olika boendeformer] Care in hospital and other institutions [Vård på sjukhus och andra institutioner] If you are cared for at a hospital or another institution, you may retain your disability allowance if the expected duration of care is at most six months. If the case continues for longer than six months, you may only receive disability allowance for the days that you are not cared for at the institution. You cannot receive allowance for charges that you have to pay for care. An institution is a foster home [familjehem], hospital or a care facility which is either owned or paid for by the state municipality or a county council. Service housing and group housing [Servicebostad och gruppbostad] If you live in service housing [servicebostad] or group housing [gruppbostad], you will often receive service that corresponds to the need of help that you would have 4 (6)

5 otherwise received disability allowance for. However, you may also need assistance which is not covered by the service available at the housing. Residence may also entail costs that can be counted as additional costs when calculating disability allowance. Contact Försäkringskassan to find out what applies in your case. Student homes or special schools [Elevhem eller specialskola] If you live in a student home [elevhem], you can receive disability allowance if you have costs for personal assistance and service. This applies to student homes at state special school national upper secondary school for deaf or hearing-impaired young people national upper secondary school for young people with impaired mobility. Other benefits [Andra ersättningar] Lump sum payments [Engångsbelopp] If you have received compensation with a lump-sum payment from private insurance, this will not affect your entitlement to disability allowance. If you have received a lump sum payment from the state, a municipality or a county council, you cannot receive disability allowance for the same reason. Benefits from the state, municipality or county council [Ersättning från stat, kommun eller landsting] If you receive other benefits from the state, a municipality or a county council as support for assistance needed or the costs you have had due to your disability, you can receive disability allowance only for assistance or costs that you have not already received compensation for. Försäkringskassan may also consider that you should be able to obtain compensation for your assistance needs or your costs through some other form of support than disability allowance. How to apply for disability allowance [Hur ansöker man om handikappersättning?] Application for disability allowance is to be made on a special form which is available from Försäkringskassan and at our website You can obtain assistance in completing the application form at Försäkringskassan. You must also submit a doctor s certificate on your illness or disability. If you have recently submitted a doctor s certificate, you may not need to submit a new certificate. You can appeal against decision that you are not satisfied with [Du kan överklaga ett beslut som du inte är nöjd med] If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you can appeal against it to the county administrative court [länsrätten]. You must appeal within two months. Information about how to appeal is shown in the decision. Contact Försäkringskassan if you need assistance in appealing. 5 (6)

6 Payment [Utbetalning] Disability allowance is paid out every month. If you would like your disability allowance to be paid to another person, you must provide Försäkringskassan with a written power of attorney stating who the money is to be paid to. Living abroad [Bo utomlands] If you are going to live abroad in an EU/EEA country, you can retain your disability allowance for up to 12 months. If you live in a country outside the EU/EEA, the limit to retain the allowance is six months. If you return to Sweden, you can apply for disability allowance again. Working abroad [Arbeta utomlands] You can receive disability allowance if you live in Sweden and work abroad. However, you must not work abroad for more than 12 months if you are to retain your disability allowance. If you work in an EU/EEA country, you are entitled to support from the country where you work. Always notify changes [Anmäl alltid förändringar!] You must notify all changes in your need for assistance or your costs or other circumstances that may affect your entitlement to disability allowance. If you have received too much money, you may be liable to reimburse it to Försäkringskassan. 6 (6)