Medical reassessment for Supported Living Payment
When you grant Supported Living Payment you will need to decide if your client's entitlement should be reassessed:
- in 2 years or
- never (if the client qualifies to be given simplified access)
The decision to never reassess a client's capacity to work is based on whether the client has a condition that meets the criteria for them to be given simplified access. This means the client's capacity to work is unlikely to ever improve enough that they could regularly work 15 hours per week or more in open employment.
All other clients will be reassessed in 2 years as their capacity for work could improve enough that they could regularly work 15 hours per week or more in open employment. The reassessment is not reviewing whether the health condition is permanent or not.
For more information see:
Impact of their health condition or disability could improve over time - 2 year reassessment
The 2 year reassessment acknowledges that for some clients it is reasonable to expect the impact of their permanent health condition or disability may change over time and the client's capacity for work may improve. The client's capacity to work may improve over time because the impact of the client's health condition or disability reduces. This could be because:
- their condition improves or
- the client becomes better at managing the impact on their capacity to work over time
Impact of their health condition or disability is unlikely to improve over time - never reassess
A small number of clients will qualify to be given simplified access because the impact of their health condition or disability on their capacity for work is unlikely to ever improve enough that they could regularly work 15 hours per week or more in open employment and therefore will never require medical reassessment.
Work and Income can reassess eligibility at any time
Work and Income can continue to reassess a client's medical eligibility at any time if they think that the client's capacity for work has changed.
This includes when it has previously been decided their capacity to work does not need to be reassessed.
Further advice
If you are uncertain about the medical reassessment period, refer to the Regional Health Advisor or Regional Disability Advisor [no link find out why] for advice.
