The permanent disability pension It is a benefit intended to protect the income of workers who, due to illness or accident, work-related or not, cannot continue working in the same profession or, depending on the recognized degree, in any other. It is often said that these benefits are “lifetime” in nature, but in reality this has its nuances. When Social Security recognizes this benefit, the resolution establishes a period after which it can be reviewed for improvement or aggravation. This term, furthermore, is binding, as has been recalled the Supreme Court.
However, the General Social Security Law contemplates exceptions and, if the beneficiary is working or there is a diagnostic error, Social Security can advance this review and, if this new examination determines a real improvement in the disabling condition, it can maintain the pension, lower the grade or even withdraw it.
To understand it, you have to start from a basic idea. Social Security cannot review a permanent disability before the date set in its own resolution just because. The Supreme Court explains that this period is not indicative, but mandatory, and that advancing it outside the cases provided for by law violates the legal security of the pensioner. In fact, the analyzed ruling annulled an early review because Social Security initiated it ahead of time and without legal exceptions.
When can Social Security review permanent disability before the deadline
Article 200.2 of the General Social Security Law says that every resolution must indicate when the review can be requested due to aggravation or improvement and adds that this period will be binding for all subjects who can promote it. Even so, the rule itself allows this review to be opened before the date in two cases: when the pensioner is working or when there is a diagnostic error.
For this reason, Social Security cannot withdraw the pension before the review period automatically or on a discretionary basis. What you can do is advance the control if one of these circumstances occurs and, from there, assess whether the limitations that justified the incapacity continue to exist. If you understand that the state of health is maintained, the benefit will continue the same. If you see sufficient recovery, you may modify the grade or terminate the pension.
The sentence we have mentioned is based on the case of a worker who had been recognized as having absolute permanent disability. The resolution established that the review could not be done before December 3, 2018, but the INSS began it in November of that same year. Later, Social Security considered that he had improved and withdrew his pension. The affected person appealed, the courts agreed with her and the Supreme Court finally confirmed that this review was null because it had been carried out without sufficient legal basis.
Other reasons why permanent disability can be reviewed
In addition to improvement, permanent disability can also be reviewed for aggravation or diagnostic error. The difference is that, if none of the exceptions provided for by law occur, Social Security must wait for the deadline set in the resolution. Thus, the message is not that the pension will be protected forever, but nor that Social Security can review it at any time. You can only do so within the limits established by law.