Disability benefits: an obstacle course of bureaucracy for Italians

by Roberta Lunghini - 2013.06.25

Registering for a disability pension is a real obstacle course of bureaucracy for Italians. Waiting times can take up to a year and are getting longer. Today, apart from the numerous difficulties in submitting the application, waiting times for a first visit are about eight months (the average in 2011 was six months). To receive a reply, you have to wait more or less 11 months, up from nine in 2011. The total waiting times are, on average, as follow: 278 days for 'civil' disability, 325 for blindness and 344 for deafness. This is an injustice that not only penalizes citizens, but is also expensive for the government. Cittadinanzattiva, an Italian citizens' rights movement, has calculated that, including back-payment of interest on pension benefits and doctors' fees, the cost of the delays is €58 million a year.



Visit the website of the campaign "I am a V.i.P. - Very invalid People"





