Assumption of the costs for a stair lift and standing function of an electric wheelchair by the Disability Insurance

Facts

The case concerns a man born in 1974 who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in 1989 and has since been dependent on a wheelchair. The Disability Insurance (IV) covered the costs for various wheelchairs and aids in 1990, 1991 and 1994. In 2007, the man applied for a follow-up supply, whereupon the IV office Basel-Landschaft approved the assumption of the costs for an electric wheelchair and an orthopedic seat in March 2008, but rejected the financing of the stair lift and the standing function, as the man did not reach the required minimum income of CHF 4,406 per year.

The man filed a complaint against this decision with the Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft, which upheld the complaint and obliged the IV office to cover the costs for the stair lift and the standing function. The Federal Office for Social Insurance then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court states that according to the case law, a "sustainable gainful employment" is required for the entitlement to aids from the Disability Insurance. The concretization contained in the circular letters on the provision of aids by the Disability Insurance (KHMI), according to which gainful employment is only assumed if an annual income of at least the minimum contribution for non-gainfully employed persons according to the AHVG is achieved, is generally not objectionable.

In the present case, however, it is unclear whether the man's work performance actually reaches a…