The reinforcement of the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly (CSI) may lead some ascendants of civil servants to lose their status as family beneficiaries of ADSE (Health Assistance to Civil Servants). The problem arises from the intersection between this benefit aimed at supporting elderly people with low incomes and a rule that prevents access when monthly income exceeds a certain limit.
The access of ascendants as family beneficiaries is provided for in Article 10 of Decree-Law No. 118/83, which establishes that monthly own income must be less than 60% of the guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration. With the minimum wage set at 920 euros, the current limit is 552 euros per month. In the case of couples of ascendants, the limit rises to 920 euros, and it is enough to reach this value to cease to meet the requirement.
ADSE legislation considers any proceeds of any kind as own income, including pensions and equivalent benefits. Although the diploma does not mention the CSI by name, ADSE has included this supplement in the calculation of income. When the sum of the pension, the CSI and other income reaches 552 euros per month, an isolated ascendant loses the right to be a family beneficiary.
The maximum value of the CSI for an isolated person increased from 630 euros per month in 2025 to 670 euros since January. This change made confrontation with the ADSE limit more likely. The number of CSI beneficiaries grew from approximately 140 thousand in April 2024 to 245.5 thousand in June 2025, after the entry into force of Decree-Law No. 35/2024, which eliminated the consideration of children's income in the assignment and reassessment of the supplement.
