A large number of people with permanent disabilities will receive lifelong decisions from the Territorial Expert Medical Commission /TEMC/. This is stated in the order of the Minister of Health Dr. Stoycho Katsarov. With these changes in the Ordinance on medical expertise, people who have definitive and irreversible disabilities will not be certified under the terms of the TEMC every 3 years, but will receive a lifetime percentage of reduced working capacity.
For years, thousands of patients with disabilities with genetic diseases who cannot be cured over time have appeared before the Commission every three years. The task of the TEMC is to establish the lost working capacity of the patient, determining it by a percentage. It in turn depends on the completeness of the disease and is determined by a special regulation.
Vasil Pritropov has 91% disability to both hip joints, deformity of the right and left foot, hypertensive heart. He uses a wheelchair and a cane. The man works as a service center operator at Water Supply and Sewerage- Plovdiv. The work he performs is appropriate for his health.
Vasil contacted Iskra.bg with his concern that when documents are submitted for entitlement to care allowance,, he does not receive it. The 50-year-old man is from the Plovdiv village of Brestnik. He says he has a permanent birth defect. Vasil commented:
„Funds are currently being allocated for a ramp so that I can climb the stairs because we live on the second floor of a house. The reason I want this ramp is that it is already difficult for me to climb the stairs, my knees hurt a lot because I have a problem with my lower limbs. I am a permanent dislocation of the hip joints, I have surgery as a child on one foot, I wear orthopedic shoes. The worst thing is that this Dr. Yancho Lechev from Plovdiv, who is the director of the Plovdiv TEMC, told me most insolently that I had to leave my job to assign me Group I with care allowance.“
Vasil was outraged by the doctor’s arrogant demeanor. He claims that Dr. Lechev refused to provide him with care allowance, because he was working. The man clarified that he needed this decision, as it was one of the conditions to receive the funds for the ramp. Pritropov explained:
„Over the years, I have watched the gypsies being granted a full percentage with the right to care allowance, and in return you see people who have nothing. They give to the gypsies, but not to the Bulgarians who need them. Let’s tell the truth.“
Pritropov explained that he had done additional tests – X-rays and a consultation with an orthopedist. According to him, after preparing the necessary documentation, he sent it and a week later received the new decision from the TEMC, in which nothing is written about the knees. He claims that they rewrote the old decision and did not review the new documents at all. Vasil explained that he had appealed to NEMC-Sofia, where the decision was revoked. Then he added:
„NEMC-Sofia returned it to them in order to fix it and describe the problem with their knees. In principle, if there are any irregularities, any discrepancies between the documents from the TEMC, the NEMC returns it to them in order to eliminate it. It will be examined again by Dr. Lechev.“
From Iskra.bg we decided to look for the Regional Health Inspectorate /RHI/ – Plovdiv, we contacted Dr. Slaeva. She commented:
„At 91% and above, according to an ordinance, care allowance can be granted, but this is at the discretion of the TEMC. It doesn’t matter if it works. It is assessed depending on the documents, on the methodology of the points from which the percentages are determined. An ordinance and methodology used by the TEMC. Depending on this, it is written – what percentage with or without care allowance, but this is an estimate of the TEMC. When appealing to the NEMC, some things can be found that the TEMC has missed and are in favor of the patient. NEMC examines the documentation in great detail – either it will cancel it and return it for additional documents, or it will issue a new one.“
