[Restriction of medical criteria for disability pensions. Effects on the local level]

The objective of the analysis presented in this article is to assess the impact on a local level of the revised eligibility criteria for disability pensions in Norway. The setting was five mainly rural municipalities on the North-West coast of Norway and the city of Trondheim. The project was carried out as a document analysis of a sample of rejected applications for disability pensions, as they appeared in social security records from 1990/91, before the revision to the law, and from 1992, after the revision. Among a total of 146 such cases, 118 (81%) were available for the document analysis. Some national statistics were used for purposes of comparison. The percentage of rejected applications increased in all municipalities for both men and women. The new regulations accounted for 25% of the rejected cases. 31% of the rejected applications from women were based on the narrower criteria, as opposed to 17% of the men's. The impacts of the 1991 regulations have been considerable. The increased rejection rate adds to a falling rate of applications for disability pensions since 1989/90, accounting for an almost 50% reduction in the yearly incidence rate of granted pensions in Norway from 1989 to 1993.