Facts
S., born in 1912, applied for supplementary benefits (EL) to her basic AHV old-age pension in June 1990. In November 1990, the Compensation Fund of the Canton of Thurgau granted her a monthly supplementary benefit as of May 1, 1990. In December 1992, S. informed the Compensation Fund that she was residing in the nursing home Y. The Compensation Fund then suspended the EL payments as of February 1993 and recalculated the supplementary benefits, which revealed that there had been no entitlement to EL from August 1990 to May 1993. Consequently, the Compensation Fund obliged S. to reimburse the supplementary benefits paid from August 1990 to January 1993, amounting to a total of CHF 13,388.--.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that the reclaim is permissible according to the provisions on the review or procedural revision of the formally legally binding decision by which the benefit in question was granted. According to a general principle of social insurance law, the administration can review a formally legally binding decision if it is clearly incorrect and its correction is of substantial importance.
In the recalculation of the supplementary benefits to determine the reimbursement amount, all factual changes that increase or…