Epress.am News from Armenia
From now on, the state will issue vouchers for people with disabilities to purchase hearing aids and wheelchairs. The amendments were initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and approved by the Armenian government on Thursday. According to the bill, the purpose of the amendments is to provide people with disabilities with the opportunity to buy a hearing aid or a wheelchair that corresponds to their individual needs. In the past, the ministry would announce a tender and purchase the equipment for people with disabilities. The latter, however, would often complain that the equipment provided by the ministry was of poor quality.
“If a person prefers to buy a wheelchair or a hearing aid the price of which is higher than the cost of the voucher, they can pay the difference with their own means,” the draft says.
It’s noteworthy that people with disabilities will have to pay a rather big difference due to the cheapness of the voucher, the cost of which is below the minimum price for hearing aids and wheelchairs in the Armenian retail market. Thus, the cost of vouchers for hearing aids is 30,000 drams (a little over $60) for people over 30 and 80,000 drams ($166) for people under 30 years old. The prices for quality hearing aids in specialized centers, meanwhile, start from AMD 220,000.
The cost of one state voucher for the purchase of a wheelchair is AMD 95 000, while store prices for the equipment start from AMD 120 000. These cheapest wheelchairs can only be used indoors and on roads with hard surface.
Hayk Mkrtchyan, head of the department dealing with the issues of elderly and persons with disabilities, said in a conversation with Epress.am that the ministry had imagined the market prices would be rather high: “But where there is demand there will be supply. If there are many buyers, companies will offer better products; they will compete with each other, which will result in lower prices.”
Armen Alaverdyan, chairman of the Unison NGO supporting people with special needs, considers the amendments a compromise solution: “It is better to get a small amount of money than unsuitable wheelchairs, which people prefer not to take. I bought my own wheelchair in Germany for 230 euros, and I also paid a lot for transportation. Yes, the amount is not large, but if they claim that the state is unable to offer more, then this is a compromise solution.”