Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) para pessoas com deficiência: barreiras de acesso e lacunas intersetoriais

Abstract

The 1988 Constitution approved the Continuous Cash Benefit (BCP) directed to elders and disabled persons with a household per capita income of 25% of the minimum wage, and around 4 million people received this benefit in 2015. The design of BPC for disabled persons involves organizations of social security, social welfare and health. This paper discusses how some intersectoral coordination mechanisms gaps between these areas produce access barriers to potential beneficiaries. Results stem from a qualitative study performed with physicians, administrative staff and social workers from the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) and of the Social Welfare Reference Center (CRAS) in three municipalities of different Brazilian regions. Intersectoral coordination and cooperation are more structured at the Federal level. At the local level, they rely on informal and horizontal initiatives, which produce immediate but discontinuous solutions. The role of the CRAS remains contingent on the implementation. The need to establish institutionalized mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between social welfare, health and social insurance to improve the implementation and reduce barriers to access to the BCP is apparent.

Funcionalidade de Crianças com Leucemia em Tratamento Quimioterápico

“…Crianças diagnosticadas com câncer e com renda per capita inferior a ¼ do salário mínimo têm direito de receber o Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) 22 . Seis das oito crianças no presente estudo que não estavam recebendo o benefício se encaixam no perfil necessário para esse direito social.…”

Health care for people with disabilities in a rural setting under the perspective of community agents

“…For that, they will have to be attended by health and social assistance professionals to evaluate and forward the request to be carried out at the Instituto Nacional de Seguro Social (National Social Security Institute). In this process, the vulnerability of the applicants increases the barriers generated by the lack of information on the ways to obtain the BPC (33) .…”

Income transfer program for people with disabilities over 16 years old in Brazil

“…However, after the implementation of the social assessment, the main reasons for rejections were disability considered temporary and absence of incapacity for independent life and work (64.09%) 15 , which may indicate the lack of knowledge in considering the impairment as a disability for the reason of the rejections³. Ignorance can also be considered in another context of the information about the BPC and how to proceed with its application, the main reason for the decline in requests to the BPC 28 .…”