Families with children without grants for over a year when rules were changed

Caregivers who care for children with functional impairments are in some cases entitled to contributions from the Social Insurance Office.

On January 1, 2019, a new system was introduced that meant that carers who had previously had the so-called care allowance had to apply for the new grants - the nursing allowance and the additional cost allowance.

SVT's survey shows that the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's long processing times mean that people in Kalmar and Kronoberg, who previously had the care allowance in 2019 or 2020, are now without a contribution pending their applications to be processed by the Social Insurance Office.

In Kalmar there are 184 people and in Kronoberg 180 people. For the longest time, people in both counties have been without grants for over 440 days. In both counties, over a third of people have waited for over 180 days.

- The nursing allowance and additional expenses are crucial for most families. Should they not be, several families would have been on their knees financially, says Magnus Mjörnman, board member of Attention Kronoberg, an interest organization that works to improve the life situation of people who have neuropsychiatric functional variations.

The Swedish Social Insurance Agency writes on its website:
“We have longer processing time than usual for nursing grants and additional costs reimbursement. We apologize for waiting for the decision and we will do everything we can to shorten the times. The processing time is an average of eight months. You will not lose any money due to the processing time. If you are entitled to compensation you will receive money in arrears when we have made a decision. ”

At Attention in Kronoberg you can see that the long wait often strikes hard for the families. In the clip above you can hear Magnus Mjörnman tell us about the situation.