Argentina Budget Bill Cuts Disability Benefits, Sparks Coalition Crisis

The Argentine government's 2027 budget bill proposes dismantling key pillars of the National Disability Emergency Law (27.793), including the mandatory monthly adjustment of provider payments based on the Consumer Price Index. The bill replaces universal fee schedules with a system allowing each insurer and province to set its own rates, and reinstates a labor invalidity pension model that bars formal workers from receiving disability benefits.

The changes caught ruling coalition allies — including the PRO party and the UCR — by surprise, as they had been negotiating a consensus "superador" bill to extend the emergency law. PRO leader Cristian Ritondo and deputies Silvana Giudici and Laura Rodríguez Machado learned of the cuts only when the budget arrived in Congress late on September 15.

“When one is a bloc leader and doesn't find out, being at that table where things are discussed... you get to Congress and they tell you: 'You're deceiving us.' No, I didn't know. You end up looking like a fool or like you deceived them.”

Senator Patricia Bullrich, a key government ally, publicly admitted she was unaware of the disability chapter, warning that the lack of coordination leaves legislative chiefs looking "foolish or deceitful" when defending the bill. The move risks a seventh congressional defeat for the administration on disability policy.

Deputy Juan Marino of Unión por la Patria stated the budget chapter explicitly derogates articles 5, 8, 9, 14, and 7 bis of the emergency law, eliminating a mobility cost study that valued transport at 1,600 pesos per kilometer versus the current 900 pesos. Providers describe the move as a "final blow" to the sector.

Following the backlash, the executive branch signaled willingness to modify the budget's disability chapter. Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli and Lower House Speaker Martín Menem met with libertarian deputies to draft a new consensus text to present in committee this week, aiming to replace the contested budget provisions with a permanent legislative framework.