Patients Can Receive Up to 24 Months of Salary from the State. The Social Security Institution provides monthly benefits such as disability pensions, allowances for the disabled, and permanent incapacity income to insured individuals who are unable to work. Those who fall ill while employed and suffer a loss of work capacity may be granted a disability pension. The Social Security Institution awards disability pensions for up to 24 months depending on the specific disease. After treatment, the pension continues as long as the loss of work capacity remains above 60%.
Disability Pension is paid to insured workers who develop severe illnesses while employed that require extensive treatment. Individuals who were disabled before starting insured employment are not eligible for a disability pension, although they may have earlier retirement options. Those who lose at least 10% of their working capacity due to an occupational accident or occupational disease are entitled to a permanent incapacity income.
Under the applicable regulations, all cancer patients may receive a disability pension for 18 months if they apply within one year from the date of diagnosis. For certain other diseases, pensions can be awarded for 12 or 24 months from the date of diagnosis. Patients who undergo bone marrow transplantation may receive 12 months of disability pension, while those with leukemia or tuberculosis may receive 24 months. These periods can be extended for patients whose treatment is incomplete, provided they submit medical reports supporting the need for continued benefits.
It Is Important to Apply Within the Specified Time to Receive a Disability Pension
To qualify for a disability pension, an application must be submitted within one year of the diagnosis. Each disease category has a specific payment period for the pension, and payments begin from the date on the medical board report. The patient must apply to the Social Security Institution immediately after receiving the medical report. If the application is delayed, benefits will be paid only for the period following the date of application, resulting in reduced back pay.
Genetic or severe conditions that prevent work, such as advanced cancer or organ transplants, may also qualify the patient for a disability pension during the course of treatment.
What Are the Requirements to Be Eligible for a Disability Pension?
- To be eligible for a disability pension, patients diagnosed with a severe illness generally must have at least 10 years of insured status and a minimum of 1,800 days of paid premiums.
- To convert a temporarily granted disability pension into a permanent one, a medical board report is required confirming that the patient has lost at least 60% of their work capacity due to the illness.
- For patients who require full-time external care, the 10-year insured service requirement is waived; however, a minimum of 1,800 days of paid premiums is still required.
- Individuals with fewer than 1,800 premium days may complete the missing days by making buyback payments where eligible. Men may buy back military service periods and women may buy back eligible maternity-related insurance periods to meet the requirement.
If a Disability Pension Recipient Returns to Work, Will Their Pension Be Cut?
Whether disability pensions are suspended when a recipient returns to work depends on the insured person’s status, whether the pension was granted before or after October 2008, and the timing of their first employment relative to October 2008. In general, pensions granted before October 2008 and those of 4/A worker-status insured individuals whose first employment began before October 2008 are suspended from the date they resume work in that status.
For those same individuals, if they work under Bağ-Kur or in the public sector, their disability pensions are not suspended. For people whose first employment began in or after October 2008, disability pensions are suspended when they start working, regardless of whether they are workers, civil servants, or self-employed.
Which Diseases Qualify for a Disability Pension?
The illnesses that may justify the granting of a disability pension include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Cancers (including soft tissue, skin, lymphoma, leukemia, thyroid, breast, nervous system, lung, stomach, prostate, testicular and penile cancers, small and large intestine cancers, multiple myeloma, salivary gland, liver, gallbladder, bile duct, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and genital tract cancers)
- Heart failure
- Heart valve diseases
- Schizophrenia
- Epilepsy
- Dementia
- Brain tumors
- Parkinsonian syndromes
- Cerebral palsy
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Balance disorders that prevent unaided standing combined with hearing loss
- Anemia
- Bipolar disorder
- Visual impairment
- Kidney transplant
- Lung transplant
- Tuberculosis
- Retinal hemorrhages
- Loss of limb such as arm or leg amputation
- Behçet’s disease
- Gastrointestinal hemorrhages
- Liver cirrhosis
- Liver transplant
- Endocrine and metabolic diseases
- Respiratory system diseases
- Heart transplant