How Can we Replace Disability Pensions with the European Approach of Rehabilitation-integration-return to the Labor Market?

The territorial expert medical commissions (TEMC) and their preventative and occupational functions are the main instrument providing social integration for people with disabilities in Bulgaria. The TEMC system`s SWOT analyses show that these functions are in fact not performed in way to achieve their goals. The expert decision of TEMC contributes to the socialization of handicapped people only in the aspects of disability pension, technical aids, personal assistance. The current legal framework does not provide for the individual`s capacity for work restoration and employment via the individual rehabilitation programs prescribed in the expert conclusions of TEMCs. The rehabilitation programs are designed with regard to the individual needs of the person with disabilities by the rehabilitator - an occupational therapist. The aim of the article is to present the idea of introducing the European principle „rehabilitation-integration-return to the labor market` instead of paying disability pensions in Bulgaria. Therefore TEMC`s actions should be directed towards medical prophylaxis, requalification and return to the labor market.