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

We are proposing to revise the definitions of the age categories we use as one of the criteria in determining disability under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The proposed changes reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical treatment and healthcare, changes in the workforce since we originally published our rules for considering age in 1978, and current and future increases in the full retirement age under Social Security law. The proposed changes would not affect the rules under part 404 of our regulations for individuals age 55 or older who have statutory blindness. They also would not affect our other rules that are dependent on age, such as the age at which you can qualify for early retirement benefits or for Medicare as a retired individual.

We will be holding a series of town hall meetings to maximize the opportunities for individuals and organizations to give us input on our Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend our regulations for the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (Ticket to Work program). We invite the public, including beneficiaries and other individuals with disabilities, their advocates, service providers, employers and other interested parties to attend these public meetings and to give us input on our proposed changes to the rules for the Ticket to Work program. We are announcing the scheduling of three additional town hall meetings.