UK halves health element of universal credit for most new claimants
Change
The UK reduced the health element of universal credit for new claimants to £50 a week, halving and freezing the payment from April unless a claimant’s condition is assessed as terminal or severe and lifelong with no prospect of improvement.
Why it matters
The change raises the evidentiary bar for new claims by imposing a narrow durability test that claimants must meet to receive the higher payment. As a result, many people with debilitating but non-permanently progressive conditions will be placed on the lower frozen rate and must demonstrate lifetime severity to qualify.
Implications
- • New universal credit claimants with severe health conditions must obtain and submit medical evidence that a condition is terminal or meets the 'severe and lifelong' standard at claim assessment or their health element will be set at £50 a week.
- • Department for Work and Pensions decision teams must apply the tightened 'severe and lifelong' eligibility standard when processing new health-element assessments or assign claimants the lower frozen payment.
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Source
Topics
Policy & Regulation Human Rights Regulatory Actions Public Health Healthcare Systems