The Ministry of Health of Ukraine reminds the public that if it is not possible to undergo an examination and obtain a referral to the medical and social expert commission (MSEK), the deadline for re-examination for people with disabilities, including children, that falls during martial law in Ukraine is postponed to no later than six months after martial law ends or is lifted.
All payments and related benefits remain in place until the re-examination deadline.
Importantly, during martial law and for six months after it ends or is lifted — under Government Resolution No. 225 — Ukrainians have the right to apply to the medical and social expert commission (MSEK) to have a disability established in absentia, regardless of where they live or are staying. This means that if a person is unable to come to the MSEK, the commission can decide to establish a disability in absentia based on a referral from a healthcare facility.
Under current legislation, a medical and social assessment to establish a disability group is carried out on referral from a healthcare facility after diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation measures, if there is evidence confirming a persistent impairment of body functions caused by diseases, consequences of injuries or congenital defects that limits daily activities.
The attending doctor, including a family doctor whom the patient has contacted for medical care, issues a referral to the MSEK (form 088/o) when needed. An internally displaced patient does not need to sign a declaration with the doctor who issues the MSEK referral, and there are no legal grounds to demand one.
Restoring documents lost during the war
As a result of Russia’s military aggression, many Ukrainians have lost documents, including medical ones, while relocating and evacuating.
There are several ways to restore lost medical documents, including:
- To restore medical records — examination results, treatment, inpatient and surgical procedures, and rehabilitation recommendations — contact your family doctor or any other primary care doctor where you are staying. The doctor will decide whether to restore the medical documents through the electronic health care system (eHealth) and/or carry out additional examinations so that further treatment can continue.
- To restore documents belonging to a person with a disability, contact the social protection authority, which has access to the Centralized Database of Persons with Disabilities and can issue an extract for the person.
- To restore other documents, renew an MSEK certificate or undergo a medical and social assessment, a person can contact the medical and social expert commission where they are staying, and MSEK doctors together with doctors of healthcare facilities will advise on how to resolve the issues.
Importantly, all forcibly displaced persons are examined by the commissions extraterritorially, that is, wherever they are staying. All medical and social expert commissions in Ukrainian-controlled territory operate as usual and, together with social protection authorities, help all internally displaced persons restore and obtain lost documents.