Budget

A question about : Budget

Chancellor has just announced that from 2013 all DLA claimants, new and existing, will have to have medicals.
What happens to all the people with mental health issues who have to go through these.... the docs don't recognise it and once again we will have to fight to keep DLA.

I thought he was going to clamp down on incapacity claimants - not a mention of them.

Best answers:

• i think though it will be easier for some in that the DLA FORMS are dreadful to fill in, and as with ESA medicals those that are severely disabled have not had to fight to be awarded ESA....both my girls went straight in to the Support group( Profoundly disabled).
  i think for some it wilL be harder but in our case it will be easier.
  M
• It would be just as bad for those who are too ill to attend a medical - I suspect that some medicals for those who are on HRC will have home visits. Surely they will look to GP's to write a report, otherwise how will they know exactly what illness/disability you have and how it affects you.
  It also sounds that the care element is going to be hit hard, with an assessment on whether some need full time carer.
  As these changes take place in 2013, we will hear a lot more detail on how and what changes will take place. I wonder how housing benefit will change for people on DLA.
• Do they literally mean every claimant on DLA will have to have a medical??
  As welshsue said this seems unfair for people with mental health issues - such as my mum who is on MRC DLA for that reason and now all this talk in the budget will cause even more stress and worry for these people, which is exactly what they don't need.
  I'm quite sure a medical won't show doctors how people with mental health problems are when they are at their worst, the days they won't even get out of bed or eat, the days they feeling like ending it all and the pressure it puts on their families too.
  I wondered why they singled out this benefit and not Incapacity or Job Seekers Allowance?
• I hope and pray ATOS are not involved
• Can you imagine what a massive undertaking it would be to give EVERY DLA claimant a medical??? It would take years surely? Maybe it will be new claimants and Renewals??
  I hope we get some clarification soon.
• I may be wrong, but I'm sure the chancelor said EVERY claimant!
• They are involved in assessing claimants on ESA and claimants transferring from IB to ESA,they are on bonuses for getting people off sickness benefits.Search on here for peoples opinions and nightmare stories
• i go back to a question i asked for peoples thoughts on previously, if u had been told to stop work like i did a few years ago after seeing doctor with muscle and nerve problems also walking difficulties and neck problems. now if the government are saying people like me are fit for work why have they told me down the years i cant work?. now what do we do?. i would and i am sure others would love to work if it was possible to do each day without to much health problems but some people cant. we are treated like crap at times or like we are a foot ball to be kicked from pillar to post at the whim of governments and mps that rip people off. now they are trying to alter the small amount of dla we get to help with everyday things, it makes a huge difference to people like me who would not have a car and would be very limited to where they could go. maybe the government could give us all a holiday and then after we can have free youthanasia. the end. sorry but thing get me bloody mad at times.
• Snoopy89,i'm in the same boat,i have a consultant and occupational health GP reports both saying i had to give up work and am not fit for ANY kind of employment and my condition will worsen,yet i was put in the WFG for ESA
• 1304: A medical assessment will be applied to new disabilities living allowance claimants from 2013, says Mr Osborne. Taken from the BBC Website
• New and existing claimants
• My GP and my Specialist have both told me that I should not even try to look for work at the moment.
  I already live in fear of having my IB removed by an ATOS clerk who may have no medical knowledge and who will not have any understanding of my condition (ASD). Now my DLA is going to be at risk.
  My main worry is that the IB and DLA medicals will be combined (how else will they find the time/resources to examine every DLA applicant?) and it will be done by ATOS.
  The one small glimmer of light is that the DLA medicals don't start until 2013.
• Just great! Like it wasn't hard enough getting DLA as it was and I'm physically disabled and told by all the doctors that I am not stable enough for working (although I will try as soon as I feel able if they think it's a good idea or not, lol). I doubt a medical would make it any easier for most people to be honest. For example if it is changed to a medical will you be able to appeal? What happens to those that have conditions such as MS that isn't always there but can flare up very badly meaning stable constant work may not be possible?
  I'm not sure this is a good thing.
• Well done all you tory voters,
• may be we should group together and take the goverment to the european court of human rights as we have been told to stop work but the box ticker overules the doctors and consultants etc, sorry about spelling eyes are playing up. who the heck do they think they are.
• It feels like discrimination or even victimisation, what bullies! They should pick on the lazy !!!!!!s who just don't want to work, but are able to do so!
• I see this as a good thing:
  I am being constantly told by the DWP that I can do x, y & z and should have no problems doing a, b & c. When in reality, I can't do x, y & z and have problems doing a, b & c.