Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Hearing Loss and Disturbances of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function, 53700-53702 [2013-21143]
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53700
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 169 / Friday, August 30, 2013 / Proposed Rules
agency must take action as provided in
paragraph (c)(3) of this section.
(2) The 26 pay periods described in
paragraph (c)(1) of this section are
calculated beginning with the first pay
period beginning after the date on
which the religious compensatory time
off was used.
(3) If the employee fails to earn
religious compensatory time off within
26 pay periods after taking religious
compensatory time off, the agency may
take corrective action to eliminate or
reduce the negative balance by making
a corresponding reduction in the
employee’s annual leave balance. Any
negative balance of religious
compensatory time off remaining after
charging annual leave must be resolved
by charging the employee leave without
pay, which would result in an
indebtedness that is subject to the
agency’s internal debt collection
procedures.
ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
§ 550.1007 Accumulation and
documentation.
(a) Agencies must keep appropriate
records of the name and/or description
of the religious observance, and the
dates, times, and amount of religious
compensatory time off each employee
earns and uses. An agency must credit
religious compensatory time off for
work performed on a time-for-time
basis, under its time and attendance
procedures.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph
(c) of this section, an employee may
accumulate only the amount of religious
compensatory time off needed to cover
an approved absence for a religious
observance that has already occurred or
to cover an approved absence for a
future religious observance. An
employee may only accumulate the
amount of religious compensatory time
off needed to cover the specific dates
and times for which the employee has
submitted a request for religious
compensatory time off under
§ 550.1004.
(c) If the employee does not use his
or her earned religious compensatory
time off as planned—
(1) The positive balance of unused
compensatory time off may be
redirected toward a future religious
observance that has been approved,
even if that future observance is more
than 26 pay periods after the
compensatory time off was originally
earned (notwithstanding § 550.1006(b));
(2) The employee may not earn any
additional religious compensatory time
off until the retained amount of
religious compensatory time off has
been used or the need to earn additional
religious compensatory time off has
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:23 Aug 29, 2013
Jkt 229001
been properly established and
documented.
§ 550.1008
transfer.
Employee separation or
§ 550.1302
(a) Upon an employee’s separation
from Federal service or transfer to
another Federal agency, the losing
agency must compensate the employee
for any positive balance of earned
religious compensatory time off to his or
her credit. The agency must pay the
employee for hours of earned religious
compensatory time off at the hourly rate
of basic pay in effect at the time
religious compensatory time off was
earned.
(b) For an employee who has a
negative balance of religious
compensatory time off upon an
employee’s separation from Federal
service or transfer to another Federal
agency, the losing agency may take
corrective action to eliminate or reduce
the negative balance by making a
corresponding reduction in the
employee’s annual leave balance. Any
negative balance of religious
compensatory time off remaining after
charging annual leave must be resolved
by charging the employee leave without
pay, which would result in an
indebtedness that is subject to the
agency’s internal debt collection
procedures.
(c) For purposes of applying
paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, an
hourly rate of basic pay is computed by
dividing the annual rate of basic pay by
2,087 hours (or 2,756 hours for
firefighter hours subject to that divisor
under subpart F of this part).
§ 550.1009 Relationship to premium pay
and overtime work.
The premium pay provisions for
overtime work in subpart A of this part
and section 7 of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as amended
(FLSA), do not apply to overtime work
performed by an employee that is used
to earn religious compensatory time off
under this subpart. The overtime hours
worked to earn religious compensatory
time off under this subpart do not create
an entitlement to premium pay
(including overtime pay) under subpart
A of this part or FLSA overtime pay
under 5 CFR part 551. Religious
compensatory time off is not considered
in applying the premium pay
limitations described in §§ 550.105,
550.106, and 550.107 of this part.
Subpart M—Firefighter Pay
4. The authority citation for subpart M
of part 550 continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5545b, 5548, and 5553.
PO 00000
Frm 00006
5. In § 550.1302, revise paragraph
(2)(iii) of the definition of ‘‘firefighter’’
to read as follows:
■
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Definitions.
*
*
*
*
*
Firefighter * * *
(2) * * *
(iii) Covered by the General Schedule
and classified in the GS–0099, General
Student Trainee Series (as required by
§ 362.203(f) of this chapter), if the
position otherwise would be classified
in the GS–0081 series.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2013–21221 Filed 8–29–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325–39–P
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
20 CFR Part 404
[Docket No. SSA–2012–0075]
RIN 0960–AH54
Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating
Hearing Loss and Disturbances of
Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function
Social Security Administration.
Advance notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPRM).
AGENCY:
ACTION:
We are requesting your
comments on whether and how we
should revise the criteria in our Listing
of Impairments (listings) for evaluating
hearing loss and disturbances of
labyrinthine-vestibular function in
adults and children. We are requesting
your comments as part of our ongoing
effort to ensure that our listings reflect
current medical knowledge. If we
propose specific revisions, we will
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking
in the Federal Register.
DATES: To ensure that we consider your
comments, we must receive them by no
later than October 29, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any one of three methods—Internet,
fax, or mail. Do not submit the same
comments multiple times or by more
than one method. Regardless of which
method you choose, please state that
your comments refer to Docket No.
SSA–2012–0075 so that we may
associate your comments with this
ANPRM.
Caution: You should be careful to
include in your comments only
information that you wish to make
publicly available. We strongly urge you
not to include in your comments any
personal information, such as Social
Security numbers or medical
information.
1. Internet: We strongly recommend
that you submit your comments via the
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\30AUP1.SGM
30AUP1
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 169 / Friday, August 30, 2013 / Proposed Rules
Internet. Visit the Federal eRulemaking
portal at https://www.regulations.gov.
Use the Search function to find docket
number SSA–2012–0075. The system
will issue you a tracking number to
confirm your submission. You will not
be able to view your comment
immediately because we must post each
comment manually. It may take up to a
week for your comment to be viewable.
2. Fax: Fax comments to (410) 966–
2830.
3. Mail: Address your comments to
the Office of Regulations and Reports
Clearance, Social Security
Administration, 107 Altmeyer Building,
6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore,
Maryland 21235–6401.
Comments are available for public
viewing on the Federal eRulemaking
portal at https://www.regulations.gov or
in person, during regular business
hours, by arranging with the contact
person identified below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cheryl A. Williams, Office of Medical
Listings Improvement, Social Security
Administration, 6401 Security
Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235–
6401, (410) 965–1020. For information
on eligibility or filing for benefits, call
our national toll-free number, 1–800–
772–1213 or TTY 1–800–325–0778, or
visit our Internet site, Social Security
Online, at https://
www.socialsecurity.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
What is the purpose of this ANPRM?
ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
We are publishing this ANPRM as
part of our ongoing effort to ensure that
our listing criteria reflect current
medical knowledge. This ANPRM gives
you an opportunity to send us your
comments and suggestions on revisions
to the introductory text sections 2.00B
and 102.00B and the listings and other
criteria in sections 2.00 and 102.00 for
evaluating hearing loss and disturbances
of labyrinthine-vestibular function. We
last published final rules revising the
criteria that we use to evaluate hearing
disorders on June 2, 2010.1 We last
published final rules with the criteria
we use to evaluate disturbances in
labyrinthine-vestibular function on
December 6, 1985.2
On which rules are we inviting
comments and suggestions?
We are inviting comments and
suggestions on our current rules which
you can find in sections 2.00 and 102.00
in the listings in appendix 1 to subpart
P of part 404 of our regulations, on the
1 75
2 50
FR 30693.
FR 50068.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:23 Aug 29, 2013
Jkt 229001
Internet at https://www.ssa.gov/OP_
Home/cfr20/404/404-app-p01.htm.
Who should send us comments and
suggestions?
We invite comments and suggestions
from people who apply for or receive
benefits from us, advocates and
organizations that represent people who
have hearing disorders or disturbances
of labyrinthine-vestibular function,
State agencies that make disability
determinations for us, experts in the
evaluation of hearing disorders,
researchers, and other members of the
general public.
What should you comment about?
We are interested in any comments
and suggestions on how we might revise
introductory text sections 2.00B and
102.00B, listing 2.07 for evaluating
disturbances of labyrinthine-vestibular
function, and listings 2.10, 2.11, 102.10,
and 102.11 for evaluating hearing loss.
For example:
• Do the rules for evaluating hearing
loss or disturbances of labyrinthinevestibular function contain technical
language or jargon that is not clearly
explained? If not clearly explained,
what technical language or jargon needs
further explanation?
• Are the requirements for otological
examinations and audiometric testing
provided in sections 2.00B and 102.00B
clearly stated? If not clearly stated, what
requirements need further clarification?
• What types of testing should we
consider when evaluating hearing loss
in adults or children who cannot
cooperate in behavioral testing?
• Would it be helpful to add a sample
audiogram that contains all the
requirements necessary for evaluation of
hearing loss in adults or children?
• What word recognition tests other
than the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT)
or the Hearing in Noise Test—Children
(HINT–C) should we consider when we
evaluate hearing loss treated with
cochlear implantation?
• Should we provide examples of
medical reasons for a discrepancy
between the speech reception threshold
and the pure tone average?
• Could we improve clarity by
replacing the phrase ‘‘disturbances in
labyrinthine-vestibular function’’ with
the phrase ‘‘disturbances of inner ear
function’’?
• Rather than evaluating disturbances
in labyrinthine-vestibular function in
adults under the listings, would
evaluating disturbances in labyrinthinevestibular function using residual
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
53701
functional capacity 3 improve the
determination process?
• Should we continue to evaluate
disturbances of labyrinthine-vestibular
function under the Special Senses and
Speech body system?
• What else could we do to make the
rules for evaluating hearing or
disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular
function easier to understand?
• Would a different format make the
rules easier to understand (for example,
changing the grouping or ordering of
sections; use of headings; paragraphing;
use of diagrams; use of tables)?
• Experts who study disability
believe that many personal,
environmental, educational, and social
factors contribute in significant ways to
the relationship between a person’s
hearing ability and the ability to work.
Rather than providing criteria for
evaluating hearing loss in adults under
the listings, should we evaluate all
hearing loss using residual functional
capacity?
Will we respond to your comments
from this notice?
We will consider all comments and
suggestions we receive. However, we
will not respond directly to the
comments you send in response to this
ANPRM.
What will we consider when we decide
whether to propose revisions?
When we decide whether to propose
revisions to our rules for evaluating
hearing loss or disturbances in
labyrinthine-vestibular function, we
will consider:
• All comments and suggestions we
receive in response to this notice;
• Information about advances in
medical knowledge, treatment, and
methods of evaluating hearing loss or
disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular
function; and
• Our disability program experience.
In addition, we will consider the
following when we decide whether to
propose revisions to our rules for
evaluating labyrinthine-vestibular
function:
• The comments and suggestions that
we received in response to an ANPRM
that we published on April 13, 2005.4
• Information we received at a Policy
Conference on Hearing Impairments and
3 Residual functional capacity describes what a
person can still do despite his or her impairment(s).
20 CFR 404.1545 and 416.945.
4 Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Hearing
Impairments and Disturbance of LabyrinthineVestibular Function, 70 FR 19353. The comments
we received in response to this ANPRM are
available at: www.regulations.gov, by searching for
docket ‘‘SSA–2006–0178’’.
E:\FR\FM\30AUP1.SGM
30AUP1
53702
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 169 / Friday, August 30, 2013 / Proposed Rules
Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular
Function, held November 7–8, 2005.5
If we decide to propose specific
revisions, we will publish a notice of
proposed rulemaking in the Federal
Register and you will have a chance to
comment on the revisions we propose.
List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 404
Administrative practice and
procedure, Blind, Disability benefits,
Old-age, Survivors and disability
insurance, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Social security.
Dated: August 22, 2013.
Carolyn W. Colvin,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 2013–21143 Filed 8–29–13; 8:45 am]
17, 2013, at 10 a.m. in the IRS
Auditorium, Internal Revenue Building,
1111 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC. The subject of the
public hearing is under section 833 of
the Internal Revenue Code.
The public comment period for these
regulations expired on August 12, 2013.
The notice of proposed rulemaking and
notice of public hearing instructed those
interested in testifying at the public
hearing to submit a request to speak and
an outline of the topics to be addressed.
As of Monday, August 26, 2013, no one
has requested to speak. Therefore, the
public hearing scheduled for September
17, 2013, is cancelled.
Martin V. Franks,
Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch,
Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief
Counsel (Procedure and Administration).
BILLING CODE 4191–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
[FR Doc. 2013–21246 Filed 8–29–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
Internal Revenue Service
to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–144990–12),
Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue
Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20044, or sent
electronically via the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov (indicate IRS and
REG–144990–12). The public hearing
will be held in the IRS Auditorium
beginning at 10 a.m. at the Internal
Revenue Service Building, 1111
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,
DC 20044.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Concerning submissions and/or to be
placed on the building access list to
attend the hearing, Oluwafunmilayo
(Funmi) Taylor, at (202) 622–7180;
concerning cost methodology, Eva
Williams, at (202) 435–5514; concerning
the proposed regulations, Girish Prasad,
at (202) 622–3620 (not toll-free
numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
26 CFR Part 1
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
[REG–126633–12]
Background and Explanation of
Provisions
Internal Revenue Service
The Independent Offices
Appropriations Act (IOAA), which is
codified at 31 U.S.C. 9701, authorizes
agencies to prescribe regulations that
establish charges for services provided
by the agencies (user fees). The charges
must be fair and must be based on the
costs to the government, the value of the
service to the recipient, the public
policy or interest served, and other
relevant facts. The IOAA provides that
regulations implementing user fees are
subject to policies prescribed by the
President. Those policies are currently
set forth in the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Circular A–25, 58 FR
38142 (July 15, 1993) (the OMB
Circular).
The OMB Circular encourages
agencies to charge user fees for
government-provided services that
confer benefits on identifiable recipients
over and above those benefits received
by the general public. Under the OMB
Circular, an agency that seeks to impose
a user fee for government-provided
services must calculate its full cost of
providing those services. In general, the
amount of a user fee should recover the
cost of providing the service, unless
OMB grants an exception.
RIN 1545–BL05
Computation of, and Rules Relating to,
Medical Loss Ratio; Hearing
Cancellation
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Cancellation of a notice of
public hearing on proposed rulemaking.
AGENCY:
This document cancels a
public hearing on proposed regulations
that provide guidance to Blue Cross and
Blue Shield organizations, and certain
other health care organizations, on
computing and applying the medical
loss ratio added to the Internal Revenue
Code by the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act.
DATES: The public hearing originally
scheduled for September 17, 2013 at 10
a.m. is cancelled.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Oluwafunmilayo Taylor of the
Publications and Regulations Branch,
Legal Processing Division, Associate
Chief Counsel (Procedure and
Administration) at (202) 622–7180 (not
a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice
of proposed rulemaking and a notice of
public hearing that appeared in the
Federal Register on May 13, 2013 (78
FR 27873) announced that a public
hearing was scheduled for September
ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
SUMMARY:
5 The full transcript for the Policy Conference
presentations on labyrinthine-vestibular function is
available at: https://www.regulations.gov/
#!documentDetail;D=SSA–2006–0178–0003.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:23 Aug 29, 2013
Jkt 229001
26 CFR Part 300
[REG–144990–12]
RIN 1545–BL37
User Fees for Processing Installment
Agreements and Offers in Compromise
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking
and notice of public hearing.
AGENCY:
This document contains
proposed amendments to the
regulations that provide user fees for
installment agreements and offers in
compromise. The proposed
amendments affect taxpayers who wish
to pay their liabilities through
installment agreements and offers in
compromise. This document also
provides a notice of public hearing on
these proposed amendments to the
regulations.
SUMMARY:
Written or electronic comments
must be received by September 30,
2013. Outlines of topics to be discussed
at the public hearing scheduled for
October 1, 2013, at 10 a.m. must be
received by September 30, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Send submissions to:
Internal Revenue Service,
CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–144990–12), Room
5203, Post Office Box 7604, Ben
Franklin Station, Washington, DC
20044. Submissions may be handdelivered Monday through Friday
between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Installment Agreements
Section 6159 of the Internal Revenue
Code (Code) authorizes the IRS to enter
into an agreement with any taxpayer for
the payment of tax in installments. 26
CFR 301.6159–1. Before entering into an
installment agreement, the IRS may
examine the taxpayer’s financial
position to determine whether such an
E:\FR\FM\30AUP1.SGM
30AUP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53700-53702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21143]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
20 CFR Part 404
[Docket No. SSA-2012-0075]
RIN 0960-AH54
Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Hearing Loss and
Disturbances of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function
AGENCY: Social Security Administration.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are requesting your comments on whether and how we should
revise the criteria in our Listing of Impairments (listings) for
evaluating hearing loss and disturbances of labyrinthine-vestibular
function in adults and children. We are requesting your comments as
part of our ongoing effort to ensure that our listings reflect current
medical knowledge. If we propose specific revisions, we will publish a
notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register.
DATES: To ensure that we consider your comments, we must receive them
by no later than October 29, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of three methods--
Internet, fax, or mail. Do not submit the same comments multiple times
or by more than one method. Regardless of which method you choose,
please state that your comments refer to Docket No. SSA-2012-0075 so
that we may associate your comments with this ANPRM.
Caution: You should be careful to include in your comments only
information that you wish to make publicly available. We strongly urge
you not to include in your comments any personal information, such as
Social Security numbers or medical information.
1. Internet: We strongly recommend that you submit your comments
via the
[[Page 53701]]
Internet. Visit the Federal eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Use the Search function to find docket number SSA-
2012-0075. The system will issue you a tracking number to confirm your
submission. You will not be able to view your comment immediately
because we must post each comment manually. It may take up to a week
for your comment to be viewable.
2. Fax: Fax comments to (410) 966-2830.
3. Mail: Address your comments to the Office of Regulations and
Reports Clearance, Social Security Administration, 107 Altmeyer
Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.
Comments are available for public viewing on the Federal
eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov or in person, during
regular business hours, by arranging with the contact person identified
below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl A. Williams, Office of Medical
Listings Improvement, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security
Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, (410) 965-1020. For
information on eligibility or filing for benefits, call our national
toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or visit our
Internet site, Social Security Online, at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
What is the purpose of this ANPRM?
We are publishing this ANPRM as part of our ongoing effort to
ensure that our listing criteria reflect current medical knowledge.
This ANPRM gives you an opportunity to send us your comments and
suggestions on revisions to the introductory text sections 2.00B and
102.00B and the listings and other criteria in sections 2.00 and 102.00
for evaluating hearing loss and disturbances of labyrinthine-vestibular
function. We last published final rules revising the criteria that we
use to evaluate hearing disorders on June 2, 2010.\1\ We last published
final rules with the criteria we use to evaluate disturbances in
labyrinthine-vestibular function on December 6, 1985.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 75 FR 30693.
\2\ 50 FR 50068.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On which rules are we inviting comments and suggestions?
We are inviting comments and suggestions on our current rules which
you can find in sections 2.00 and 102.00 in the listings in appendix 1
to subpart P of part 404 of our regulations, on the Internet at https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-app-p01.htm.
Who should send us comments and suggestions?
We invite comments and suggestions from people who apply for or
receive benefits from us, advocates and organizations that represent
people who have hearing disorders or disturbances of labyrinthine-
vestibular function, State agencies that make disability determinations
for us, experts in the evaluation of hearing disorders, researchers,
and other members of the general public.
What should you comment about?
We are interested in any comments and suggestions on how we might
revise introductory text sections 2.00B and 102.00B, listing 2.07 for
evaluating disturbances of labyrinthine-vestibular function, and
listings 2.10, 2.11, 102.10, and 102.11 for evaluating hearing loss.
For example:
Do the rules for evaluating hearing loss or disturbances
of labyrinthine-vestibular function contain technical language or
jargon that is not clearly explained? If not clearly explained, what
technical language or jargon needs further explanation?
Are the requirements for otological examinations and
audiometric testing provided in sections 2.00B and 102.00B clearly
stated? If not clearly stated, what requirements need further
clarification?
What types of testing should we consider when evaluating
hearing loss in adults or children who cannot cooperate in behavioral
testing?
Would it be helpful to add a sample audiogram that
contains all the requirements necessary for evaluation of hearing loss
in adults or children?
What word recognition tests other than the Hearing in
Noise Test (HINT) or the Hearing in Noise Test--Children (HINT-C)
should we consider when we evaluate hearing loss treated with cochlear
implantation?
Should we provide examples of medical reasons for a
discrepancy between the speech reception threshold and the pure tone
average?
Could we improve clarity by replacing the phrase
``disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular function'' with the phrase
``disturbances of inner ear function''?
Rather than evaluating disturbances in labyrinthine-
vestibular function in adults under the listings, would evaluating
disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular function using residual
functional capacity \3\ improve the determination process?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Residual functional capacity describes what a person can
still do despite his or her impairment(s). 20 CFR 404.1545 and
416.945.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should we continue to evaluate disturbances of
labyrinthine-vestibular function under the Special Senses and Speech
body system?
What else could we do to make the rules for evaluating
hearing or disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular function easier to
understand?
Would a different format make the rules easier to
understand (for example, changing the grouping or ordering of sections;
use of headings; paragraphing; use of diagrams; use of tables)?
Experts who study disability believe that many personal,
environmental, educational, and social factors contribute in
significant ways to the relationship between a person's hearing ability
and the ability to work. Rather than providing criteria for evaluating
hearing loss in adults under the listings, should we evaluate all
hearing loss using residual functional capacity?
Will we respond to your comments from this notice?
We will consider all comments and suggestions we receive. However,
we will not respond directly to the comments you send in response to
this ANPRM.
What will we consider when we decide whether to propose revisions?
When we decide whether to propose revisions to our rules for
evaluating hearing loss or disturbances in labyrinthine-vestibular
function, we will consider:
All comments and suggestions we receive in response to
this notice;
Information about advances in medical knowledge,
treatment, and methods of evaluating hearing loss or disturbances in
labyrinthine-vestibular function; and
Our disability program experience.
In addition, we will consider the following when we decide whether
to propose revisions to our rules for evaluating labyrinthine-
vestibular function:
The comments and suggestions that we received in response
to an ANPRM that we published on April 13, 2005.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Hearing Impairments
and Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function, 70 FR 19353.
The comments we received in response to this ANPRM are available at:
www.regulations.gov, by searching for docket ``SSA-2006-0178''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information we received at a Policy Conference on Hearing
Impairments and
[[Page 53702]]
Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function, held November 7-8,
2005.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The full transcript for the Policy Conference presentations
on labyrinthine-vestibular function is available at: https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=SSA-2006-0178-0003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If we decide to propose specific revisions, we will publish a
notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and you will have
a chance to comment on the revisions we propose.
List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 404
Administrative practice and procedure, Blind, Disability benefits,
Old-age, Survivors and disability insurance, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Social security.
Dated: August 22, 2013.
Carolyn W. Colvin,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 2013-21143 Filed 8-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P