Obtaining disability status (medical-social assessment): what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Classification: the Soviet-era “groups” no longer exist. Disability status has three degrees: moderate, significant and severe. A “mild” degree does not confer status (Law of Georgia on Medical-Social Expertise (MSE Law), Art. 10). A severe degree requires permanent outside care or supervision (Instruction on the Procedure for Determining Disability Status (MSE Instruction), Art. 8). Status is established by the MSE bureau of a licensed clinic, not by the Social Service Agency (MSE Instruction, Art. 3).
2. Route: MSE assessment is available only after all diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation (MSE Law, Art. 52); it requires an individual referral from the treating medical facility (MSE Law, Art. 50), an identity document, and, for those in employment, a certificate from the employer (MSE Law, Art. 53). A bedridden person is assessed at home or in an inpatient setting (MSE Law, Art. 51). Status is valid from the day documents are submitted to the bureau (MSE Law, Art. 57).
3. Deadlines (where money is lost): re-assessment with a moderate or significant degree takes place once a year (MSE Law, Art. 12); with a severe degree, once every two years (MSE Law, Art. 12); after pensionable age, status is indefinite if the prognosis is unfavourable (MSE Law, Art. 14). Failure to attend a re-assessment suspends status (MSE Law, Art. 15). Absence without good cause ends the social package (Rules on the Social Package, Art. 12).
4. Social package: status is the basis for the social package (Law of Georgia on Social Assistance, Art. 12¹). The package is applied for at any office of the Social Service Agency with an extract from the MSE certificate (Rules on the Social Package, Art. 7). The decision is made no later than 10 calendar days after the application (Rules on the Social Package, Art. 8). Amounts: a severe degree (general category) receives GEL 470 (Amendment to the Rules on the Social Package, Art. 1); a significant degree receives GEL 250 (same); a moderate degree receives GEL 210, but only for persons with disabilities from childhood after age 18, since other moderate cases in the general category get no package (same). The amounts apply from 1 January 2026 (same, Art. 2). The social package is incompatible with a state pension and state compensation, so one must be chosen (Rules on the Social Package, Art. 6).
5. Refusal or a lowered degree: the bureau's conclusion can be appealed (MSE Law, Art. 60), and the deadlines are short (see the appeal situation).
6. Where to apply: the MSE bureau of a licensed clinic; the Social Service Agency (social package).
7. Evidence: epicrises and conclusions, rehabilitation results; the referral for MSE; the extract from the MSE certificate for the social package.
8. Pitfalls: waiting for a Soviet “group” or VTEK/MSEK; going to the Social Service Agency without the bureau's conclusion; missing a re-assessment.

Be sure to check

• three degrees of status, established by the MSE bureau of a licensed clinic on a physician's referral
• documents and the possibility of assessment at home
• re-assessment deadlines and the consequences of non-attendance
• social package: application to the Social Service Agency, decision deadline, amount by degree, incompatibility with state pension