Disability evaluation ready this year

About 6,700 residents have applied for disability classification from the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) and around 1,000 have been granted an impairment evaluation registry card.
The remaining 5,000 should have their assessment by the end of this year, said the head of the IAS Rehabilitation Division, Tang Veng Si yesterday. About half of those have also applied for a special pass, which will allow a fee of MOP 0.30 to apply to any bus trip.
However, considering that the “evaluation process of the disability type and degree is a very lengthy one,” IAS has decided to launch a temporary bus pass for the 5,000 residents still waiting.
On Monday and Tuesday, impairment evaluation applicants will receive a form that will allow them to request the temporary document at Macau Pass, valid until the end of the year. “It’s not mandatory for people to personally request the pass, they can ask another person to do it,” Tang said.
While using the temporary pass, residents will pay normal bus fees. If they are granted an impairment evaluation registry card, they can request their money back from IAS until June 30, 2012.
IAS is ready to extend the end date of both the temporary bus pass and the refund period in case it takes more time than expected to assess all applicants, Tang advised in a press conference.
The official is confident that by next year the disability evaluation process will be “much faster” and that the temporary bus pass “will not be necessary”.
The medical classification came into effect in March, with the authorities expecting about 30,000 people to apply for a registry card.
A draft law granting disabled people an annual subsidy and free health care is being discussed at the Legislative Assembly.