There are 11.4 million citizens with various degrees of disability in Russia. Same as the majority of countries, disabled people in Russia are entitled to state support, some of which is provided by the Pension Fund.
The PFR pays three types of pensions to disabled persons: the insurance, state and social pensions.
Insurance pensions are paid to disabled persons who have worked for at least one day and therefore have an insurance record. Nowadays, such pensions are received by 2.15 million persons. A disabled person who has never worked and has no insurance record is paid a disability social pension by the Pension Fund. Such pensions are received by 2.1 million people.
Disability state pensions are assigned to persons who develop a disability during military service, preparations for or performance of space flights, or exposure to radiation or man-made accidents. Such pensions are currently paid to 39,000 persons.
Recipients of disability insurance and social pensions may switch to old-age insurance or social pensions, which are either the same or higher, on certain conditions (relevant pension points, labor record or retirement age).
Persons who developed disability as a result of a military trauma and disabled WWII veterans are entitled to two pensions, both an old-age insurance pension and a disability state pension. There are almost 48,000 pensioners of the kind at present.
All disabled persons who receive PFR pensions and do not work are guaranteed payments, which cannot be lower than the regional pensioner subsistence minimum.
Thanks to the Federal Register of Disabled Persons, all disability pensions are assigned on the basis of an application, without any additional documents or information provided by a disabled person. Pensions are extended automatically as soon as information about re-examination appears on the register.
Starting next year, the assignment of disability pensions will be fully proactive. This means that both the extension and assignment of a disability pension will not require the submission of any documents and will happen as soon as the entitlement occurs.
In addition to pensions, the PFR provides disabled persons with a monthly benefit, the size of which depends on the disability group, as well as with monetary compensation for the package of social services that includes drugs, medical products, a health resort voucher, and free commuter train transportation. A disabled person who does not need these services may receive a full or partial refund from the PFR.
Since the middle of last year, the Pension Fund has been automatically assigning monthly benefits to all disabled persons without an application. The benefit is assigned within ten days after the information about disability is entered into the Federal Register of Disabled Persons. In this case, the recipient receives a notice in one’s account on the public services portal, by email or by a text message.
The Pension Fund benefits are received by both disabled persons and by people who take care of them. The benefit for non-working able-bodied persons taking care of people with 1st group disabilities stands at 1,200 rubles per month. Parents, foster parents and guardians of disabled children and people with lifelong disabilities receive a 10,000-ruble monthly benefit.
Families with a maternity capital certificate may spend the funds on social adaptation and rehabilitation of disabled children. The certificate compensates for the family spending on special goods, such as multifunctional chairs, lifts, adjustable beds, computers, tactile displays, keyboards, etc.