2023-11-02 20:09:02
by Maria Giovanna Faiella
At Corriere Salute, the Minister for Disabilities Alessandra Locatelli gives a response to the concerns of people with disabilities following the transfer of resources to the Advances Decree and the failure to restore them in the Budget bill
The news of cuts to resources intended for disabilities is causing concern, first with the “transfer”, to the so-called Advances Decree, of 350 million euros from the Fund for policies in favor of people with disabilities – allocation expected from 2022, every year, to the implementation of law no. 227/2021 Delegation to the Government on the subject of disabilities -, then with the failure to restore those funds in the budget bill for 2024. As various reports to Corriere Salute also confirm, people with disabilities and their family members fear cuts both in terms of services and economic benefits and benefits.
Let’s try to clarify things by giving voice to their concerns and the answers given to the Courier by the Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli.
Enabling law on disabilities and resources
On 31 December 2021, Law no. came into force. 227 Delegation to the Government on disability mattersin implementation of Mission 5 Inclusion and Cohesion of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which provides for the implementation of a reform of the legislation on disabilities, with a view to the deinstitutionalisation of people with disabilities and the strengthening of their autonomy, in line with there United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by our country in 2009.
For the implementation of the “Enabling Law” which, in fact, delegates the Government to adopt the legislative decrees to regulate the matter, an economic allocation of 350 million euros per year has been provided with the establishment of the National Single Fund for policies in favor of people with disabilities. Originally, as provided for by the Law itself, the implementing decrees had to be approved within 20 months of its entry into force, a deadline which was then extended with subsequent provisions.
Single fund provided for by the budget bill for 2024
Another thing, however, is the new single fund for the inclusion of people with disabilities which is envisaged by the budget bill for 2024: the four funds (or, better, three) currently existing on the subject of disabilities will come together in this fund. – for a total of 336 million in 2023 – i.e.: Fund for the inclusion of people with disabilities (100 million in 2023 but not refinanced for 2024); Fund to assist the autonomy and communication of students with disabilities; Fund to support the care and assistance role of the family caregiver; Fund for the inclusion of deaf and hearing impaired people.
The doubt: Shifting resources or cutting?
You can’t save on disabilities, says the Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome (Aipd). President Gianfranco Salbini, on behalf of the Association’s family members, wrote a letter to ministers Locatelli and Calderone, expressing concern about the “shift”, not to mention the “cut” of 350 million euros intended for the “Fund for in favor of people with disabilities”: resources used with the so-called “Advances Decree” to cover the increased costs. We have read Minister Locatelli’s replies and the promise to “restore them” as soon as the decrees are in place. We ask the entire government not to fail in this commitment and to ensure the necessary resources to support the major disability reform that we have been waiting for for some time. Disability must be a priority, and no one must be left behind, underlines the president of Aipd.
The proposal of the 16 November Committee
The 16 November Committee – Association for ALS and highly disabling pathologies also wrote to Minister Locatelli expressing dismay at the reduction of 350 million euros intended for projects for people with disabilities, returned to the state coffers and used to cover the “Advance Decree”. President Mariangela Lamanna explains: We ask that the 350 million euros remain available for interventions for disabilities, to deal with the many emergencies that people and their families face: they could flow into the new “Single Fund for the inclusion of people with disability” provided for by the 2024 Budget Law. Also because, Lamanna points out, the newly established Single Fund will be able to count on an endowment of approximately 232 million euros, 104 less than the 336 million that covered 4 separate funds, merged into this new Single fund.
The Minister’s reassurances
The Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, tells the Courier: First of all, I would like to reassure the many people who are worried because they read about “disability cuts”: there are no reductions in disability pensions or other economic benefits. Compared to the “Single Fund for the inclusion of people with disabilities” which will be established by the Budget Law, – underlines the Minister – this is a new model that simplifies the planning of interventions, and therefore the lives of people with disabilities. Its allocation of 231.8 million euros per year, starting from 2024, will be managed by the Presidency of the Council and directly assigned to my ministry which, as is known, has no portfolio (without spending availability – editor’s note). The resources of the already existing funds will flow into it, except for the “Fund for inclusion with disabilities” (100 million allocated in 2022 and 2023), not refinanced for the years 2024 and following, but which I intend to refinance soon with an intervention regulatory; therefore, subsequently, this will also flow into the “Single Fund”.
Implementing decrees, when?
As for the 350 million diverted to the “Advance Decree”, says Locatelli: They were in the chapter for the enabling law on disability (n. 227/2021) and could not be used because they were linked to the legislative decrees that will allow its concrete implementation and which have not yet There are. The “heart” decrees of the Reform, which concern the revision of civil disability and the implementation of the individual life project (with the multidimensional evaluation of disability), are ready and I will shortly present them to the Council of Ministers (after the green light from the others competent ministries – Labour, Health and Mef -, which are evaluating them); after which the process for final approval will begin, which involves various steps (Parliament, Regions, etc.) and, in any case, must be completed by June 2024 in compliance with the deadlines set by the Pnrr; then, on January 1, 2025, the experimentation limited to some territorial contexts will begin.
Objective: simplify procedures (and people’s lives)
The Minister for Disabilities adds: I would like to reiterate the epochal nature of this reform which will make it possible to simplify procedures, and therefore the lives of people with disabilities, putting an end to the fragmentation of interventions, services and resources and also overcoming the problem of visits and of repeated checks, often a source of inconvenience. I always give an example – says Locatelli -: a mother who receives a very serious diagnosis, already certified by the hospital, then has to follow various steps to start the procedure for recognizing the disability (and law 104), starting with contacting the general practitioner for the introductory certificate, and to patronage. This will no longer be the case in the future, as the first hospital certificate will be enough to start the process.
350 million permanently lost?
Have the resources intended for disability and used for the “Advance Decree” been permanently lost? While waiting for the approval of the implementing decrees, why have they not been used for the many emergencies of people with disabilities and their family members who assist them? Those 350 million could not be used until there are the implementing decrees of the enabling law, but they will not be lost – repeats Locatelli -. We have obtained from the MEF the postponement of the resources which will be repositioned on the same “Fund for policies in favor of people with disabilities” and increased by 85 million euros per year starting from 2026. Therefore – the Minister simplifies – the 350 million will be spread starting from 2026.
In practice, as reprogrammed by the budget bill, the Fund provides for zero euros for 2023; 350 million for 2024; 350 million for 2025, for 2026: 435 million (350 + 85); for 2027 and following: 385 million (300 + 85).
Other innovations foreseen by the Disability Reform
Furthermore, among the innovations envisaged by the Reform there are: the introduction of the ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) in the evaluation of disability; the updating of the percentage tables stuck in 1992; the definition of a person with a disability, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, that is: those who have long-lasting physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with barriers of a different nature can hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others; it means preparing the interventions necessary to foster “favorable” environments for the inclusion of people with disabilities in various life contexts.
November 2, 2023 (modified November 2, 2023 | 6:39 pm)
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