Facts
A., born in 1980 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, suffered severe eye burns in March 1984 and has been visually impaired ever since. After his arrival in Switzerland in 2001, he applied for disability benefits in February 2002. The IV (Disability Insurance) office of the Canton of Zurich initially denied his claim, but later approved a compensation for mild helplessness and a vocational training program as a medical masseur. As A. repeatedly dropped out of the training, the IV office ultimately terminated the measure.
In October 2009, A. applied for supplementary benefits. The City of Uster, Social Insurance Office, denied the claim, as the imputable income, taking into account a hypothetical earned income at a disability degree of 0%, exceeded the recognized expenses.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed A.'s appeal. It stated that in the calculation of supplementary benefits, the hypothetical income that the insured person could actually realize must be taken into account. Since A. had not completed the vocational integration measure granted by the IV office, his lack of willingness to integrate must also be taken into account in the area of supplementary benefits, by basing the calculation on the income that could have been achieved after completion of the measure, in accordance with Art. 11 para. 1 lit. g ELG.
The Federal Supreme Court considered it lawful that the implementing agency had imputed a…