Congress has given this Tuesday an important boost to the dependency system with the approval of its first major reform in two decades and the validation of an additional injection of 6.2 billion euros for 2026 and 2027. The package expands rights, facilitates the combination of benefits, and obliges the State to progressively assume half of the system's cost.
The vote has been divided into two parts. The bill reforming the Dependency and Disability laws has gone ahead with 179 votes in favor, 137 abstentions from the PP, and 33 votes against from the far-right Vox. The text must now pass through the Senate before returning to Congress for its final approval.
The decree providing the new funds has received even greater support. 317 deputies have voted in favor, and the 33 representatives of Vox have been alone in their rejection. The PP has this time supported the financing after the controversy generated by its vote against the reform's opinion during its passage through the Social Rights Committee.
Minister Pablo Bustinduy has defined the two measures as a joint action aimed at changing the care model. "July 14 will be remembered for decades as the day our care system was refounded," he stated from the rostrum.
The PP changes its vote, but abstains on the reform
The PP's position had been called into question after its rejection in committee of a text that incorporates several demands defended for years by its own regional governments. Among them is that the General State Administration cover 50% of the total dependency expenditure, compared to the majority burden that communities have borne until now.
The popular party members have finally differentiated the two votes. They have supported the decree that transfers immediate resources, although they have abstained from the legal reform, considering that doubts still exist about the system's financing from 2028 onwards.
"We are going to vote in favor because we understand the importance of public resources," Carmen Fúnez announced. The popular leader added that her group maintains its criticisms of the Executive's management and demands an economic report detailing the future sustainability of the new rights.
Bustinduy has thanked the PP for its support, although he has rejected that the reform lacks budgetary backing. "They have today 6.200 million reasons why that argument will be difficult to prosper," the minister replied.
The abstention allows the PP to reserve the possibility of presenting changes in the Senate, where it has an absolute majority. Its deputy Enrique Belda has assured that the party will keep its "extended hand" to incorporate guarantees on the cost of benefits and their continuity during the next fiscal years.
The far-right Vox has voted against both the financing and the reform. Its deputies have called the measures a "deception" and have questioned whether the resources will reach families, despite the fact that the decree establishes the amounts and transfers that the autonomous communities will receive.
The State will reach 50% of the financing
The validated decree mobilizes an additional 6,162.9 million euros during what remains of 2026 and all of 2027 compared to the last public accounts. The state contribution will reach 5,513.8 million this year and will rise to 7,239.4 million in 2027, double that of 2025.
The reform of the law also incorporates the obligation for the State to finance half of the total cost of the System for Autonomy and Attention to Dependency. The communities, responsible for managing services and recognizing benefits, will assume the other half.
Until now, legislation established that the autonomous contribution should be at least equal to the state one, although the real difference was much greater. In 2024, the central government contributed on average around 27% of the expenditure, while regional governments covered most of the remaining.
The minimum amounts that each community receives per person attended also increase. For grade III, corresponding to situations of great dependency, the monthly contribution goes from 290 to 660 euros. In grade II it rises from 130 to 260 euros and in grade I, from 76 to 90 euros.
Hours before the vote, the Council of Ministers approved another transfer of 904 million euros for the agreed level of dependency. The figure could approach 970 million once the resources corresponding to Euskadi and Navarra through their financing systems are accounted for.
That money will be linked to objectives such as reducing waiting lists, increasing staff, improving the conditions of care professionals, and expanding home care. The agreed level was suppressed in 2012 and recovered in 2021 with an initial allocation of 306.9 million.
The system currently serves more than 1.7 million people, the highest figure since the law's approval. Another 142,887 remain waiting to receive a benefit, although that list has been reduced by 21% during the last year.
Compatible benefits and more home care
The reform seeks for people to be able to remain in their homes and neighborhoods for longer, with support adapted to their needs. The current model maintains a strong dependence on residences and sometimes forces a choice between services that could function complementarily.
One of the most relevant novelties is the elimination of the incompatibilities introduced in 2012. A person will be able to attend a day center and simultaneously receive telecare, home help, or a benefit for care in their environment, provided that their individual program determines it.
Telecare becomes a right for all people with a recognized dependency situation. It can also be used preventively to delay admission to a residential center and extended to groups that had greater difficulties accessing it, such as people with dementia.
Personal assistance will leave the home. The person providing support will be able to accompany the user to a medical appointment, do shopping, participate in social activities, or complete other daily tasks outside the home.
The figure of the caregiver is also expanded. Friends, neighbors, unmarried partners, and other people from the affective environment will be able to receive a benefit for care, provided they meet the conditions established by the competent administration.
The norm also guarantees the continuity of the service when the main caregiver is hospitalized or suffers from a serious illness. It also maintains the state payment of their Social Security contributions, a measure with a special impact among women, who continue to assume most of these tasks.
Files must be resolved within a maximum period of three months, compared to the six previously established. The actual average continues to widely exceed that limit in several communities and reaches more than a year in some territories.
Less bureaucracy and new disability rights
The second part of the reform develops article 49 of the Constitution and strengthens the autonomy of people with disabilities. Among its main changes is the automatic recognition of a degree of disability for those who have already been assessed within the dependency system.
People with grade I will have a recognized 33% disability, while those with grade II or III may reach 65%. The measure will prevent them from having to initiate two different administrative procedures to accredit situations that have already been evaluated by public services.
Universal accessibility is now configured as a right that can be demanded from administrations. The State will create a specific program to finance interventions in buildings and public spaces, from ramps and elevators to cognitive accessibility tools and audio description.
The Horizontal Property Law will also change so that administrations contribute financially to accessibility works in residential buildings. Homeowners' associations must request these aids when a resident who needs them asks for them.
The reform also prohibits insurers from applying higher prices or detrimental conditions due to disability. It also regulates the figure of the procedural facilitator, responsible for helping people with comprehension or communication difficulties during a trial or other judicial procedure.
The text limits physical, mechanical, and pharmacological restraints in residences and care centers. Their use will be reserved for exceptional situations and when there is no other alternative capable of protecting the person.
Entities demand that rights reach the entire country
Plena inclusión, which groups more than 950 associations, has valued the reform as a step towards a less rigid system and one more adapted to each person's life project. The organization highlights the improvement of personal assistance, the reduction of restrictions, and the promotion of support within the community.
The entity maintains, however, several pending claims. One of them affects the copayment, whose regulation will remain in the hands of the autonomous communities. Plena inclusión asks for common rules to prevent the same service from having very different costs depending on the territory.
It also demands better salaries, stability, and professional recognition for care workers. The increase in funding will allow for expanding staff, although job improvement will largely depend on the decisions made by regional governments and contracts with service providers.
The groups that have supported the reform have also called for close coordination between the State and the communities to avoid territorial differences. ERC, PNV, Junts, EH Bildu, BNG, Podemos, Compromís, and Coalición Canaria have supported the progress, although they have demanded guarantees on its implementation and funding beyond 2027.
The reform project will now be sent to the Senate. The decree of 6.200 million is now validated and will begin to deploy its effects while its urgent processing as a bill continues.
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