CUME families set for new rules in October
Families receiving CUME support for children with cancer or another serious illness are set to get new rules in October. Inclusion Minister Elma Saiz announced the change in Madrid on Wednesday during a parliamentary scrutiny session. The CUME payment supports people caring for affected minors.
Saiz said the new regulation will take on “almost all” of the improvements sought by family associations. Families will be able to choose whether reports come from their primary-care doctor or a specialist, and training placements will no longer clash with access to the support.
Changes to access and payments
The planned rules will also spell out which situations count as equivalent to a hospital stay. Workers whose actual part-time hours are 25% or less will no longer be barred from claiming the payment.
The calculation of CUME will not take account of a reduction in working hours taken under legal care arrangements for another minor. Saiz also said the process for obtaining the public health service inspection report required every two years has been clarified.
Age limit still needs a law
The minister said the government will shortly bring forward legislation to review the age limit in certain cases. She said a regulation alone could not settle every issue because some changes need legal force.
But MPs said families still face unanswered questions. Sumar’s Aina Vidal questioned whether a private body with clear financial interests should control access to a social-security entitlement. PNV MP Idoia Sagastizabal said the reform leaves key matters unresolved, including specialist reports, inspection procedures and specialist therapies.
Saiz said the government had addressed interpretation problems, increased legal certainty and adjusted protection to real needs.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com