Social Security Administration September 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are proposing to revise our regulations for the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (Ticket to Work program), authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. The Ticket to Work program provides beneficiaries with disabilities expanded options for access to employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, and other support services. We are proposing to make revisions to the current rules to improve the overall effectiveness of the program in assisting beneficiaries to maximize their economic self-sufficiency through work opportunities. These revisions are based on our vision of the future direction of the Ticket to Work program, our experience using the current rules, and recommendations made by a number of commenters on the program.

We are announcing the extension of tests involving modifications to our disability determination procedures that we are conducting under the authority of current rules codified at 20 CFR 404.906 and 416.1406. These rules provide authority to test several modifications to the disability determination procedures that we normally follow in adjudicating claims for disability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (the Act) and for supplemental security income payments based on disability under title XVI of the Act. On July 27, 2005, we published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that described an approach to improve the disability determination process. We have decided to extend the testing of two redesign features of the disability prototype for 12 months to ensure a smooth transition while these changes to the disability determination process are being finalized and implemented.

We are planning to update and revise the rules we use to evaluate growth impairments of individuals under age 18 who apply for, or receive, disability benefits under title II and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments based on disability under title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The rules we plan on revising are in section 100.00 in the Listing of Impairments in appendix 1 to subpart P of part 404 of our regulations (the listings). We invite you to send us comments and suggestions for updating and revising these rules. After we have considered your comments and suggestions, as well as information about advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating growth impairments, along with our program experience, we intend to publish for public comment a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will propose specific revisions to the rules.

We propose to revise our regulations on how we determine an individual's income and resources under the SSI program based on the SSPA of 2004, enacted on March 2, 2004. Some of the provisions of the SSPA make a number of changes in the way we determine income and resources including: how we calculate infrequent and irregular income; what interest and dividend income we exclude; how we count cash military compensation; and when we exclude gifts for tuition or educational expenses from income or resources. We are also proposing to apply the exclusions required by the SSPA when determining the countable income and resources of an ineligible spouse or ineligible parent.