Until October, millions of Russians must make a difficult choice: money or services

Federal beneficiaries, of whom there are about 15 million in the country, have twenty days left to make an important choice. Until October 1, 2022, Russians belonging to this category can apply to the Pension Fund to receive the benefits due to them in the next calendar year in monetary terms. With the help of MK experts, I found out what are the pros and cons of such a choice.

For the incomplete three weeks remaining until October 1, federal beneficiaries need to decide in what form they want to receive a set of social services (NSU) next year. Every year they are given the right to replace it in whole or in part with a cash equivalent. Moreover, September 30 is the last day for accepting applications from privileged categories of citizens who want to abandon the NSO next year and replace it with money. Or, on the contrary, to resume receiving it in 2023.

The NSO includes the provision of medicines and medical products according to prescriptions, free travel by commuter trains and intercity transport to and from the place of treatment, as well as sanatorium treatment. If the beneficiary refused the NSI in previous years and does not plan to change his decision, then there is no need to submit an application.

By the way, for people who qualify for federal benefits, a set of social services is always assigned automatically and in most cases is provided in kind by default, with the exception of citizens exposed to radiation: they initially receive it with money.

The federal beneficiaries include veterans and participants of the Great Patriotic War, the disabled, including disabled children, participants in the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and other local conflicts; participants in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident, as well as citizens affected by nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. Last year, 14.8 million federal beneficiaries received the right to social services, of which 9.8 million chose the form of money, 2.7 million – the services themselves, and 2.3 million citizens preferred monetary compensation to some of them.

It is worth noting that the amount of the monthly cash payment in 2022 was indexed from February 1 by 8.4% based on the actual consumer price growth index for 2021 of payments, benefits and compensations. Accordingly, after this indexation, the monetary equivalent of a set of social services is 1313.44 rubles, including the medicinal part – 1011.64 rubles, sanatorium treatment – 156.50 rubles, travel – 145.30 rubles.

The choice cannot be changed during the year, so people with unstable health conditions are advised to carefully consider the decision to refuse to receive the drug component of the social service package. In case of deterioration of health, expensive drugs are purchased at their own expense. In addition, beneficiaries in need of drug provision should take into account that the monetary equivalent of the drug provision benefit (1011 rubles with kopecks) does not always correspond to the cost of the necessary medicines that they can receive free of charge.

You can apply for a choice of the form of receiving a set of social services by contacting the Pension Fund or the MFC (in person or through a proxy), and you can also submit an application electronically – through the “Personal Account of a Citizen” on the PFR website, or through the State Services portal. The application submitted this September will be effective from January 1, 2023

“Each beneficiary chooses a set of social services or their monetary equivalent based on their own needs and preferences,” says financial analyst Anna Bodrova, “As can be seen from the statistics, the majority of those entitled to a set of social services still choose their monetary equivalent. Probably because this approach is more variable and allows you to choose for a person at the moment exactly what he needs. In her opinion, the services themselves are usually completely chosen by age beneficiaries who do not see the difference between names or offers. “In the end, the amount that a set of social services allows you to manage is not that big – even if it is directed to the purchase of medicines and medical products, it may not be enough,” the analyst believes.

“If a person actually spends on average more than 1,313 rubles a month on medicines, sanatorium treatment, then obviously the in-kind form of benefits is more profitable,” Mark Goykhman, chief analyst at TeleTrade, believes. But, according to him, very often beneficiaries argue something like this: “1,313 rubles a month is a good additional amount for me. I don’t go to resorts, I don’t need compensation for them. So it’s better to receive the full amount of compensation in cash here and now.” Therefore, there are almost four times more people who prefer money than those who choose in-kind services. “There is a reason for this logic. But you need to choose taking into account the fact that this choice cannot be changed during the coming year, ”the expert emphasizes.

“For the elderly and socially vulnerable people, money, even in the amount of a little more than 1,300 rubles a month, is not superfluous,” says economist Andrey Loboda, director of external relations at BitRiver, “Therefore, it is likely that most of the recipients of benefits will choose the form of money help. First of all, people need medicines and quality medical services.” But the most important thing in this story, our interlocutor believes, is not even the monthly amount of additional assistance to people, but the increased signal of the state, expanding the implementation of social programs for the population.