In 2025, the state policy concerning people with disabilities was reformatted amid rising needs and the transformation of institutions responsible for its implementation.
Full-scale war has led to a sharp increase in the number of people with disabilities caused by injuries, mine-explosive traumas, and deteriorating health, while exposing chronic problems within the social security system: uncoordinated decisions, complicated and humiliating procedures required to confirm the status of a person with a disability, paper-based bureaucracy, and weak interagency coordination.
Moreover, many high-profile scandals erupted: bribery among the leadership of medical and social expert commissions (hereinafter — MSECs), forged documents for obtaining disability status, and excessively accrued pensions for prosecutors. All these cases accelerated the need for reforming the system.
Hence, the pivotal moment was the late 2024 reform of the medical and social expert commissions, which abolished the outdated model of establishing disability status and introduced a new approach based on assessment of a person’s daily functioning. The purpose of this reform was to reduce corruption risks, move away from a purely medical approach, and bring Ukraine’s system closer to international standards, in particular, to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, its implementation created a set of fresh challenges for the legislator and the government.
Firstly, there emerged a need for transitional mechanisms to ensure the continuity of rehabilitation, social, and medical services for people with already established disability status and individual rehabilitation programs. Therefore, in 2025, many regulations focused not on introducing new rights, but on “stitching together” the old and new systems: maintaining the validity of MSEC documents, defining temporary procedures, and clarifying the powers of new expert teams.
Secondly, the MSEC reform challenged lawmakers to rewrite entire batches of regulations that for decades were tied to medical and social expertise: from the provision of technical and rehabilitation aids, benefits, and payments for access to education, employment, and housing. In 2025, the state was urgently compelled to adapt these areas to the new logic of functionality assessment, which explains the large number of targeted amendments to the laws and Cabinet resolutions.
Thirdly, the transition to the new model exposed institutional problems within the system: a shortage of skilled specialists, uneven capacities of territorial communities, delays with the launch of electronic systems, and the risk of overloading the Pension Fund and social security authorities. This caused a shift in 2025 towards digitalization, redistribution of responsibilities between agencies, and simplification of procedures to compensate for staffing and managerial constraints.
Low participation of people with disabilities in the labor market, the formal nature of existing hiring quotas, inaccessibility of infrastructure and transport, and weak coordination between social, medical, and educational policies were the key challenges. The system of providing rehabilitation and technical aids remained slow and non-transparent, while social payments were scattered among different agencies.
Against this backdrop, in 2025, the state focused on the following key tasks:
- completing the MSEC reform
- simplifying access to services
- digitalizing the system
- shifting the focus from formal compliance to real integration of people with disabilities into society and the economy.
In this digest, we review key legislative innovations of 2025 concerning people with disabilities. We analyze their content, implementation progress, and potential impact on the lives of people with disabilities.
At the end, we present short conclusions about the shortcomings of policy implementation in 2025 and outline recommendations for the future.
For convenience, use the navigation:
1. Employment
Ensuring the right to work for people with disabilities
Draft bill #4219-IX of January 15, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities, the State Employment Service, municipal, state, and private enterprises, institutions, and organizations
Summary
- The state will have to ensure that people with disabilities can exercise all their rights and freedoms without discrimination. Any form of discrimination, especially refusal of employment due to the need to create or pay for special workplace conditions, is prohibited.
- Special targeted contributions to support the employment of people with disabilities will be introduced. Employers will either pay these contributions or employ people with disabilities. There will be no more administrative fines for failing quotas on hiring people with disabilities.
- Contributions will be tax-free and transferred to State Treasury accounts.
- The State Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities is introduced as a part of the government budget of Ukraine.
- Sources of funding for the State Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities will include:
- employer contributions and fines for failure to pay a contribution
- charitable donations
- any other lawful sources
- The State Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities will be used for:
- programs helping people with disabilities to find employment
- support during employment
- social services related to employment
- other protection or support programs for people with disabilities
- Social services helping people with disabilities to work, including workplace support, personal assistants, and sign language interpreters.
- The bill allows people with disabilities to take any job, except jobs that are explicitly contraindicated to them for health reasons.
- Same employment rules for people with disabilities will apply for both the private and public sectors of the economy.
- Private employment agencies will be involved in finding jobs for people with disabilities, as well as in funding their education and training.
- The bill introduced state standards for workplace adaptation for various types of functional impairments. An employer can receive compensation for adapting a workplace for an individual with a disability. People with disabilities who are self-employed (registered as private entrepreneurs) can also receive compensation to equip their own workplaces. This money is allocated from a fund that is funded through targeted contributions.
- Financial support has become available to a wider range of enterprises that create jobs for people with disabilities. Before, such benefits and compensations were primarily granted to enterprises founded by public organizations of people with disabilities.
- Any enterprises that employ a number of people with disabilities as defined by law can now receive:
- financial benefits
- compensation for workplace adaptation expenses
- support for creating enterprises for labor integration or sheltered employment. In Ukraine, there are enterprises established by public organizations, such as the Ukrainian Society of the Blind (UTOS) and the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf (UTOG), which create jobs for people with disabilities. They receive state support to produce goods and services.
What happened
- The number of job positions offered to people with disabilities was expanded by adding government bodies and local self-government authorities to the list of institutions offering employment for people with disabilities.
- Targeted contributions were introduced instead of fines for not employing people with disabilities. The accrued funds are directed towards the creation of job opportunities. This will encourage businesses to be more proactive in employing people with disabilities, expanding their employment opportunities and increasing their level of social integration. Fines were a punitive tool that did not solve the problem, while targeted contributions are aimed at funding real measures to create job opportunities, which deliver tangible results. Moreover, the money entrepreneurs paid as fines was not always used to support people with disabilities. In contrast, targeted contributions will be used for workplace adaptation and creating conditions for the employment of people with disabilities.
- Payments aimed at creating jobs will make it possible to tackle employment barriers more effectively (for example, by funding the adaptation of premises or special equipment procurements).
Workplace adaptation for people with disabilities
Cabinet resolution #1308 of October 10, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities and the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities
Summary
- A single mechanism for the adaptation of inclusive workplaces for people with disabilities was introduced.
- The adaptation procedure includes:
- application submission
- needs assessment
- engagement of experts
- identification of necessary measures
- implementation
- final evaluation
- Workplace adaptation for an individual with a disability has to be tailored for this person’s specific needs.
- Expenses on workplace adaptation are to be covered by the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities or other authorized sources.
What happened
Employers now have a procedure for adapting workplaces for people with various impairments (mobility, vision, hearing, etc.). This should facilitate better job opportunities and integration of people with disabilities in the labor market.
2. Pension provision and payments
Indexation of pensions and insurance payments
Cabinet resolution #209 of February 25, 2025
Who is affected: individuals eligible for pensions or insurance payments
Summary
- The minimum pension amount is increased:
- for non-working pensioners over 65 with full insurance service (men — 35 years, women — 30 years) and pensioners over 80 with full insurance service (men — 25 years, women — 20 years) — up to 3,758 UAH
- for pensioners aged 70–80 with full insurance service (men — 35 years, women — 30 years) and pensioners aged 75–80 with full service (men — 25 years, women — 20 years) — up to 3,613 UAH
- for pensioners under 70 with full insurance service (men — 35 years, women — 30 years), and people with group I disability (regardless of age and years of service) — up to 3,323 UAH
- for all other non-working pensioners — up to 3,038 UAH
- The minimum pension payments for people with war-related disabilities and participants in hostilities as of March 1, 2025, were also recalculated:
- group I war-related disability: 16,847 UAH
- group II war-related disability: 13,822 UAH
- group III war-related disability: 9,478 UAH
- participants in hostilities and participants of the Revolution of Dignity who sustained injuries: 5,528 UAH
- The automatic recalculation of pensions for working pensioners was performed on April 1, 2025.
What happened
An annual pension recalculation has been performed. As of March 1, 2025, the minimum pensions for all categories of pensioners were increased: from 3,038 UAH for non-working pensioners without full social insurance service to 3,758 UAH for individuals over 65 with a full insurance service. Payments for people with war-related disabilities have increased significantly: from 9,478 UAH to 16,847 UAH, depending on the disability group. Participants in hostilities will receive a minimum of 5,528 UAH. For working pensioners, the automatic recalculation of pensions was performed on April 1, 2025, with payments increasing depending on contributions made in 2024. No additional applications were required.
Payments administered by the Pension Fund
Cabinet resolution #695 of June 11, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, legal representatives of people with disabilities, children with disabilities, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Social Policy
Summary
- From July 1, 2025, the Pension Fund of Ukraine will grant and pay a range of social benefits previously managed by the Ministry of Social Policy, namely:
- state social assistance to individuals not entitled to a pension and to people with disabilities:
- assistance to people with group I disability
- assistance to people with group II disability
- assistance to people with group III disability
- assistance to women awarded the honorary title Mother Heroine of Ukraine
- assistance to clergy and church staff
- assistance to people reaching pensionable age
- assistance to children of deceased breadwinners
- state social care assistance:
- care allowance for single low-income individuals who, according to a medical consultative commission, require constant care (except people with group I disability)
- care allowance for low-income individuals with group I, subgroup A disability
- care allowance for low-income individuals with group I, subgroup B disability
- care allowance for single individuals aged 80 and over who, according to a medical commission, require constant care (except for people with war-related disabilities)
- state social assistance for people with disabilities since childhood and children with disabilities:
- assistance for individuals with group I disability since childhood
- assistance for individuals with group II disability since childhood
- assistance for individuals with group III disability since childhood
- assistance for children with disabilities under the age of 18
- additional care allowance for individuals with group I, subgroup A disability since childhood
- additional care allowance for individuals with group I, subgroup B disability since childhood
- additional care allowance for individuals with group II or group III disability since childhood requiring constant care
- additional care allowance for a child with a disability under 6 years
- additional care allowance for a child with a disability aged 6–18 years
- funeral assistance
- state maternity benefits
- state benefits for children under guardianship or care
- state benefits for children of single mothers
- state childbirth benefit
- state benefit during adoption
- state benefit for children with severe perinatal nervous system injuries, severe congenital defects, rare (orphan) diseases, oncological or onco-hematological diseases, cerebral palsy, serious mental disorders, type I diabetes (insulin-dependent), acute or chronic stage-IV kidney disease, children who suffered serious injuries, require organ transplantation, or palliative care, but have not been recognized as individuals with disabilities
- state social assistance for low-income families
- social benefits and social stipends administered and paid by the Pension Fund of Ukraine
- applications and necessary documents for assistance may now be submitted:
- at any Pension Fund service center, regardless of place of residence
- at any administrative services center
- by mail
- via the Pension Fund web portal
- state social assistance to individuals not entitled to a pension and to people with disabilities:
What happened
As of July 1, 2025, the system for providing social support in Ukraine is being simplified. The Pension Fund assumes responsibility for granting and paying out over 30 types of social benefits previously provided by the Ministry of Social Policy. Now, citizens no longer need to apply to different agencies since all social assistance can be arranged in one place: any Pension Fund service center across the country, an administrative services center, by mail, or online via the Pension Fund portal. This change reduces bureaucracy and saves citizens time.
3. Social security
Social security for people with disabilities and children with disabilities
Cabinet resolution #1019 of August 20, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities
Summary
- Local budgets will fund free major repairs of residential homes and apartments for people entitled to this benefit, as well as expenses for project documentation and cost estimate documentation.
- Centers of comprehensive rehabilitation for people and children with disabilities have been added to the list of social security institutions eligible for free parking and vehicle storage.
- People with group I visual disabilities and children from the age of 6 will be provided with a tactile cane (white cane) or will receive compensation if they purchased it on their own.
- People with group I and II visual disabilities may opt to receive compensation for purchasing a mobile phone instead of rehabilitation aids (within the maximum price limit).
- To register for the provision of rehabilitation aids, it is enough to present only one of the following documents:
- a conclusion of a forensic medical examination regarding the fact of injury or other health damage caused by explosive devices
- an extract from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations regarding a criminal offense that resulted in injury, contusion, mutilation, or an illness caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine
- other supporting documents or an extract from the information system on the absence of a criminal record (required from the age of 14)
- Data is verified via the electronic healthcare system and the individual functioning assessment system.
- People with multiple limb injuries can receive prostheses calculated as one item per limb every two years. If needed, they can also request silicone or gel inserts and/or covers for upper and lower limb stumps.
- According to medical recommendations, people with disabilities are provided with two canes (for right and left hand) or receive compensation for their purchase.
- Swimming prostheses are now issued for five years (before it was four years).
- Unserviceable rehabilitation aids are to be written off, and usable ones will be transferred to rental points or assistive technology offices.
- The resolution applies not only to Ukrainian citizens, but also to foreigners and stateless persons serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, or the State Special Transport Service (a copy of the military ID is required).
- Participants in hostilities will be able to receive financial assistance for upper limb prosthetics once every 5 years, and for lower limb prosthetics once every 6 years.
- Compensation for limb stump inserts is provided (up to 4 items per limb per year).
- Training in using rehabilitation aids can be provided based on:
- a certificate (referral) or decision (resolution, conclusion) of a military medical or other medical commission
- the conclusion of a medical consultative commission of a state or municipal healthcare facility
- a referral from a military unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or other defense units indicating the need for such training
What happened
Many regulations on the social security of people with disabilities have been updated. The changes are aimed at improving the procedure for providing technical rehabilitation aids, expanding social guarantees, and strengthening the legal protection of people with disabilities.
4. Rehabilitation and access to medical services
Individual rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities and children with disabilities
Cabinet resolution #1021 of August 20, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities
Summary
- Individual rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities, developed by the medical and social expert commissions before December 31, 2024, will continue to be implemented in the following areas:
- medical and physical rehabilitation, assistive rehabilitation devices (technical and other rehabilitation aids), and medical products. The program could be revisited after the routine assessment of the person’s daily functioning and the development of new recommendations, which are part of the individual rehabilitation program
- psychological and pedagogical rehabilitation. The program could be revisited after a comprehensive assessment of educational limitations and development of recommendations, which are part of the individual rehabilitation program
- professional and labor rehabilitation. The program could be revisited after a comprehensive assessment of restrictions of employment limitations and development of recommendations, which are part of the individual rehabilitation program
- sports rehabilitation. The program could be revisited after a comprehensive assessment of physical limitations and development of recommendations, which are part of the individual rehabilitation program
- social and household rehabilitation. The program could be revisited after a comprehensive assessment of social limitations and development of recommendations, which are part of the individual rehabilitation program
What happened
A transitional mechanism has been established whereby individual rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities, issued by medical and social expert commissions before the end of 2024, remain valid and are implemented in all areas of rehabilitation until a new assessment of daily functioning is performed and new recommendations are issued by the dedicated expert teams. This prevents interruption in the provision of rehabilitation services.
Provision of medical devices and other goods for people with disabilities
Cabinet resolution #642 of June 4, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, legal representatives of people with disabilities, and children with disabilities
Summary
The assessment of the needs of people with disabilities for medical devices has been digitized. Information about these needs is sent by expert teams to a special electronic system and automatically transmitted to the Unified Information System of the Social Sector.
What happened
Access for people with disabilities to medical devices has been simplified, the amount of paperwork and manual checks has been reduced, decision-making timelines have been shortened, and the risk of errors and abuse in information exchange between institutions has been mitigated.
5. Institutional tools and housing policy
Monitoring and evaluation of accessibility
Cabinet resolution #311 of March 18, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, and accessibility experts
Summary
- The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development will check the accessibility of buildings and structures for people with disabilities annually.
- Representatives of public associations of people with disabilities and accessibility specialists may be involved in the monitoring, who will:
- determine which facilities will be checked and inform the local architectural authorities
- collect and publish the inspection results
- propose how to improve accessibility
- send the results to the Register of Buildings and Structures that is a part of the United State Electronic System in Construction Sector after it is operational
- Accessibility specialists will have to have at least a bachelor’s degree in architecture and urban planning or civil engineering and construction.
What happened
The Cabinet has approved the procedure for annual checks of the accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities. The procedure includes compiling a list of facilities, notifying owners, collecting and publishing evaluation results, and transmitting data to the State Register of Buildings and Structures after the launch of the system.
Update of the Provision on the Centralized Disability Data Bank
Cabinet resolution #533 of May 9, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, legal representatives of people with disabilities, children with disabilities, the Ministry of Finance, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, and the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities
Summary
- Data concerning people with disabilities will be digitized.
- Personal electronic cabinets will be created to simplify the document submission process for people with disabilities, children with disabilities, and some other vulnerable groups.
- Social security authorities will transfer their duties of processing personal files, making decisions, and signing contracts to the territorial offices of the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities.
- The resolution also defines how the fines for non-compliance with the quota of jobs for people with disabilities are to be recalculated and how the employers receiving these fines should be notified. This will reduce legal uncertainty and the number of disputes regarding such sanctions.
What happened
The updated Provision stipulates the digitalization of its administrative procedures, simplifies the process of document submission, provides for the creation of personal electronic cabinets, and delegates part of the functions from the central to the territorial offices of the Social Protection Fund for People with Disabilities.
Establishment of a special municipal housing fund
Cabinet resolution #796 of July 2, 2025
Who is affected: people with disabilities, legal representatives of people with disabilities, children with disabilities, elderly internally displaced persons, and the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development
Summary
- A special housing fund (hereinafter — the Fund) is created to provide housing to citizens for rent on preferential terms.
- Money for the Fund will be provided from local budgets, with the possibility of attracting international technical assistance, grants, loans, donor support, etc.
- Local self-government bodies are recommended to join the project.
- No less than 10% of the housing in the Fund must be reserved for:
- elderly IDPs whose housing was destroyed or damaged as a result of hostilities or who lived in temporarily occupied territories
- families that include people with disabilities or children with disabilities
- families that require supported living due to the health condition of one of their members
- large families and families with orphans or children left without parental care
- The remaining housing may be rented by the representatives of other vulnerable groups.
- After completion of the experiment, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development will have to submit a report on the implementation results to the Cabinet and prepare proposals for legislative changes that may be necessary for scaling up or permanently implementing this model nationwide.
- The project is experimental and will last for two years.
What happened
An experimental model of a special fund for preferential rental housing will be introduced. Preferential rent options will be available to members of vulnerable groups, including IDPs and people with disabilities, under affordable conditions. The Fund will be sponsored from local budgets, with the possibility of attracting international and donor support, and local self-government bodies are recommended to join the project. No less than 10% of housing will be reserved for the most vulnerable categories, including elderly IDPs, families with people with disabilities, large families, and families with children deprived of parental care. The project will last for two years, after which the Ministry will have to evaluate the results and propose legislative changes for possible nationwide scaling of the model.
Conclusions
Although the reform of the dedicated institutions and a change in the approach to developing a new strategy are still needed, in 2025, the state policy concerning people with disabilities became more systematic.
The legislator and the government have made a noticeable step toward a service-oriented policy: procedures for getting assistance have been simplified (Cabinet resolution #695 of June 11, 2025), data exchange has been digitalized (Cabinet resolution #533 of May 9, 2025), unified approaches to workplace adaptation have been introduced (Cabinet resolution #1308 of October 8, 2025), and financial instruments for employment support have been expanded. An important shift was the abolition of the punitive logic in employment and the transition to targeted contributions, which can genuinely work towards job creation (draft bill #4219-IX of January 15, 2025).
At the same time, many issues remained unresolved. A significant part of the decisions is of an experimental or transitional nature and requires further scaling. The effectiveness of the new mechanisms will depend on the capacity of territorial communities. In some cases, communities are assigned powers that the state itself should have exercised or at least compensate communities for exercising.
Issues of staffing of expert teams and stable funding remain unresolved. Solutions concerning housing, supported living, and comprehensive integration of people with severe disabilities are still situational rather than systemic.
In 2026, the key challenges will be to complete the transition from the medical social expert commissions to a new model of functional assessment, to ensure real accessibility of infrastructure, and to back the adopted standards with real budget funding. Otherwise, the progressive legislative changes risk remaining only on paper.
Recommendations
- To develop a comprehensive approach to the development of state policy concerning people with disabilities. Align policies related to social protection, healthcare, education, and employment.
- To ensure sustainable sources of funding for new instruments (targeted contributions, workplace adaptation, rehabilitation), as all commitments must be aligned with the real financial capabilities of the state to ensure the policy is not only strategically correct, but also feasible in practice.
- To invest in training for personnel: accessibility experts, assistants, and employment consultants.
- To strengthen the inclusion of people with disabilities in cultural, public, and educational life, notably by ensuring access to adult education, retraining programs, and cultural services as tools of social integration.