Benefit for the use of assistant to persons with group I eye-sight disability

The benefit may be received by a person who:

• has been assigned Group I visual disability by the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability (SMCAHCWA);
• has not been granted assistant services by the municipality or within the framework of European Union policy instruments;
• has not been granted a state benefit for a person with a disability requiring care.

The recipient of the benefit may freely choose their own assistant, and there is no obligation to report to the State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) regarding the services provided by the assistant.

The benefit is intended to cover assistant services for 10 hours per week.

If a person with Group I visual disability has been granted an assistant benefit by the SSIA for 10 hours per week, but requires more hours:

• the person is entitled to request and additionally receive assistant services from their municipality;
• the municipality shall grant assistant services for the portion exceeding 10 hours per week, but the total across both sources shall not exceed 40 hours per week.

The amount of the benefit for the use of assistant services for 10 hours per week is:
€ 17.07 per week

The benefit is granted from the date when the applicant has submitted an application to the State Social Insurance Agency and is awarded for the period for which the person has been granted Group I visual disability status.

Regardless of the day of the week on which the benefit is granted, it is paid for the entire calendar week.

The benefit is paid once a month for the previous month.

The benefit can be received either by home delivery or via transfer to a bank account with a credit institution in the Republic of Latvia, a Postal Settlement System account, or a payment account opened in another European Economic Area country that accepts euro payments. A transfer fee charged by the bank or credit institution for transfers outside Latvia may be deducted from the benefit.

The disbursement of the benefit is suspended:

• during the period when the recipient is placed in a long-term social care or social rehabilitation institution (state, municipal, or private);
• during the period when the recipient is held in a place of detention;
• during the period when the recipient is admitted to an inpatient medical institution for continuous inpatient care (if the person remains in the institution for a full consecutive week, i.e., 7 days);
• if the recipient leaves the Republic of Latvia for permanent residence abroad;
• if the recipient voluntarily waives further receipt of the benefit.

Translation prepared with a machine translation tool