The state does not inform patients who cannot work due to illness about their right to pension

Patients who cannot work due to illness and cannot live independently are entitled to a monthly pension. However, the state does not inform them about this. A number of patients said that they were not informed about their right to a pension. Even some who have secured pensions indicated that they were only informed through other patients.

Inability to work and independent living are the two criteria on which monthly pensions are granted to patients with illnesses, but many are not informed about this possibility.

Based on a cancer patient's booklet, which KOHA possesses, the pension is described as a right of people with disabilities.

But to ensure this status, institutional information is lacking. 

One patient said he did not apply for a pension because he did not know he could qualify.

"Now we are hearing from you. Now I have to get the documents from the doctor that I have and go to the ministry to check them," said one of the patients.

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And, a family member of a patient who receives a pension said that he was informed by other patients about this right, and only then did he begin the procedures to obtain the status that provides him with a monthly income.

"I've heard this from citizens, from patients who are sick. I heard it from them. I also asked the doctor. He said: 'The medical commission has to sign with them, even if you're entitled to a pension,'" said this citizen.

KOHA has also spoken with several patients who have been receiving a monthly pension of 150 euros for some time, but they also said that they were not informed by the institutions when they applied.
"During a conversation with a patient, she told me why she wasn't arranging her pension documents. And then I became interested myself. But I wasn't aware of it before," he said.

At the Oncology Clinic, where hundreds of patients receive services every day, they say that the responsibility for the lack of information about social rights lies with social welfare institutions.

"The Oncology Clinic considers the issue of informing patients about their social rights, including the possibility of receiving pensions or other financial support, to be very important. Regarding the question of why patients are not informed in a structured manner about this possibility, we would like to clarify that the primary role of the medical staff at the Oncology Clinic is to provide treatment and healthcare. Information on social schemes and financial benefits usually falls within the competence of the relevant social welfare institutions," said Ilir Kurtishi, director of the Oncology Clinic.

Until this year, the Ministry of Finance dealt with pension schemes, but the issue has been transferred to the Ministry of Labor and Family, formed within the new government.

This department said that the pension benefit for people with disabilities is based on the degree of functional limitation caused by the disease, based on medical documentation.

The Ministry did not explain how citizens are informed about this right, but they admitted that awareness and transparency need to be increased.

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"Each case is assessed individually by the relevant medical commissions, taking into account the patient's functional condition, the stage of the disease, the treatment and the impact on the ability to work and live independently. The Ministry assesses that progress has been made in informing citizens about this right, however, it remains committed to further increasing transparency and public awareness, so that all citizens who meet the conditions have access to their rights," the Ministry said in a response.

The Ministry has not indicated which are the most common pathologies that are supported, emphasizing that they do not have data on beneficiary patients separated by diagnosis, but only as general beneficiaries.