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Project approved in a House committee may restore 100% death pension payment for dependents of INSS insured, reversing the quota rule created by the 2019 Pension Reform, but the text still needs to go through new stages before becoming law.
The pension may change.
A House of Representatives committee approved a bill that may alter one of the most sensitive rules of the INSS: the amount of the death pension paid to dependents of insured under the General Social Security Regime.
The strongest point of the text is straightforward. The proposal restores the payment of 100% of the retirement that the insured received, or that which they would have been entitled to in case of permanent incapacity at the date of death.
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The measure was approved by the Committee on Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence, and Family of the House of Representatives. According to the Chamber of Deputies News Agency, the approved report was presented by Deputy Pastor Eurico, rapporteur of projects PL 338/2024 and PL 371/2024.
Current rule reduced the pension amount for many families
The change targets a rule created by the 2019 Pension Reform. Since then, for deaths occurring from November 14, 2019, the death pension has been calculated by a quota system.
According to the current rule informed by the INSS, the benefit starts from a family quota of 50% of the deceased insured’s retirement value, with an addition of 10 percentage points per dependent, up to a limit of 100%.
In practice, a family with only one dependent receives 60% of the base amount. Two people receive 70%. Three dependents reach 80%. Four get 90%. Only families with five or more dependents reach 100%.
This is exactly the point the project tries to change. The text approved in the committee eliminates the proportional logic for RGPS insured and guarantees the full value of the death pension to dependents.
Project attempts to return 100% of the benefit to INSS dependents
The approved substitute maintains the central objective of the analyzed projects: to restore the death pension to 100% for dependents of INSS insured.
According to the House of Representatives, the new rule would be restricted to the General Social Security Regime, which serves private sector workers linked to the INSS.
Federal public servants were left out of the text. Rapporteur Pastor Eurico explained that changes in the own regime of Union servants are the exclusive competence of the President of the Republic.
Even with this limitation, the political and social impact of the proposal is significant. Social Security reported that in September 2024, the INSS paid more than 40.4 million benefits. Of this total, about 34.1 million were in the RGPS.
Within this universe, there were 8.47 million death pensions, including 8.38 million common pensions and 93,990 accident-related pensions. The number shows why any change in this rule affects a significant part of the population served by Social Security.
Reporter points out income loss after policyholder’s death
In the report, Deputy Pastor Eurico argued that the current rule does not restore the dependents’ income to a level close to the period when the deceased policyholder was still active.
The report used a simulation with an average monthly salary of R$ 2,979 in 2023. In this example, a pension with only one dependent would drop to R$ 1,787 by the 60% rule.
The data helps translate the problem into a concrete situation. The death of the policyholder already changes the family structure. When income also shrinks abruptly, the pension ceases to fulfill the protective role that motivated its creation.
The proposal also ensures full payment when there is a dependent who is disabled or has an intellectual, mental, or severe disability. The objective, according to the approved text, is to guarantee 100% of the value for all dependents covered by the RGPS rule.
Approval in committee does not mean immediate change
Despite the progress, the proposal has not yet become law. This point is essential to avoid confusion among retirees, pensioners, and families who depend on the INSS.
The processing record of PL 338/2024 in the Chamber of Deputies shows that the text was received by the Finance and Taxation Committee on April 22, 2026, and was awaiting the appointment of a rapporteur at this stage.
After that, the proposal still needs to pass through the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship Committee. The Chamber News Agency reported that, to become law, the text must be approved by both the Chamber and the Senate.
As it is processed conclusively, the project can be analyzed by the committees without a Plenary vote, unless there is an appeal. The Chamber itself explains that this type of processing allows for direct decision-making in the committees but can be taken to the Plenary if there is an appeal signed by at least one-tenth of the deputies.
Text does not change all the rules of the death pension
The approved project deals with the calculation of the monthly value of the death pension. It does not change, according to available information, the rules of who can be considered a dependent, the duration of the benefit, the distribution among dependents, or the accumulation with retirement.
The INSS informs that dependents are organized by classes. In the first are spouse, partner, or companion and children under 21 years old or with a disability. Parents appear in the second class. Siblings under 21 years old or with a disability are in the third.
The accumulation rule also remains relevant. According to the INSS, retirement can be combined with a death pension, but after the Pension Reform, the beneficiary receives the full amount of the most advantageous benefit, while the other may be reduced based on minimum wage brackets.
Another important point is that the consulted substitute provides for entry into force on the date of publication of the law. In the analyzed section, there is no express rule requiring automatic recalculation of old pensions.
The discussion, therefore, goes far beyond a technical adjustment. The project brings back to the center of Congress a question that weighs on the budget of millions of families: how much of the income of the deceased should continue to protect those who remain?
