Psychologist bonus, what happened to it?

What happened to the psychologist bonus? This is a recurring question, but one that never seems to get an answer.
However, the topic is more current than ever, also following Fedez's interview on the "Che Tempo che fa" program hosted by Fabio Fazio.
It was the singer himself who accused the Meloni government of having cut the funds for the so-called "psychologist bonus", but this is not really the case.
In fact the problem is not so much in the cutting of funds, but in the opening of applications.
Hence the phantom bonus, present on paper, but absent in practice and which may have confused Fedez.
So what happened to the psychologist bonus? The Meloni government changed the psychologist bonus in 2022, the year in which it produced the first maneuver for the 2023 budget.
At that time the bonus for the psychologist was made structural and 5 million euros were allocated for 2023, in addition to 8 million euros for 2024.
The money is less than what the Draghi government had allocated, but the sum of the bonus is higher.
Ultimately, what is missing is the green light for questions.
When can you apply for the bonus? Good question.
read also How much does it cost to go to the psychologist? What is the psychologist bonus? The psychologist bonus, as the name suggests, is a bonus that allows you to take advantage of the mental health support service.
The idea, at the time of its establishment by the Draghi government with the Milleproroghe decree, was to respond to the psychological consequences (generalized anxiety and depression primarily) caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the forced isolation to limit infections .
To access the psychologist bonus it was necessary to present as a requirement an ISEE not exceeding 50 thousand euros per year.
In this case a bonus of no more than 200 euros was obtained.
For lower incomes, for example under 15 thousand euros, the bonus reached up to 600 euros.
The response to the bonus was large: 395 thousand requests, of which only 41 thousand were beneficiaries.
In other words, only 1 in 9 people were able to take advantage of the benefit, even though 90% were eligible for the bonus.
The selection did not take place based on the ISEE but, as announced, in order of application.
An element that created discontent.
read also Erasmus in Italy with scholarships, what it is and how much you are entitled to.
What has changed with the Meloni government? The Meloni government has not cut funding for the psychologist bonus, nor has it canceled it, but somehow it seems to have disappeared from the radar.
What happened? The first maneuver of the Meloni government made the psychologist bonus structural and provided 5 million euros for 2024 and 8 million euros from 2024 onwards.
In the Budget Law it was decided that the maximum limit of the bonus went from 600 to 1,500 euros for those with an ISEE of less than 15 thousand euros.
At the moment, however, the bonus is blocked.
In fact, in the absence of an implementing decree, it was not possible to start applications for the psychologist bonus in 2023.
Months have passed and with two to go until the end of the year the possibility of the applications being given the green light now seems to have vanished.
The Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci told us what happened, according to which the decree was ready, but in June it was blocked by the State Accounting Office due to technical problems.
The issue was that of financing.
read also Budget Law 2024, the (almost) definitive text with all the new features Psychologist bonus: when it will be possible to apply It is impossible to say with certainty whether 2023 will now pass without a psychologist bonus, but the timing suggests this.
An amendment to the Budget, however, makes us think well about the distribution of the bonus in 2024.
It will all depend on the majority, which will have to support or not the proposal of Filippo Sensi, senator of the Democratic Party who is pushing for an amendment to the Budget which would fill the fund for the psychologist bonus.