Social Security Administration 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces the renewal of an existing computer matching program that SSA is currently conducting with DOL.

We propose to revise the criteria in parts A and B of the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving malignant neoplastic diseases. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The proposed revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, as well as advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating malignant neoplastic diseases.

The growing share of older Americans in the population has profound long term effects on Social Security. Social Security's Board of Trustees projects that the program will be in poor fiscal shape over the long term at currently legislated payroll tax and benefit levels as a result of demographic changes. Through education and research efforts, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is committed to addressing these difficulties and ensuring responsive programs and sustainable solvency. SSA's research efforts will support informed public discussion and creative thinking that relates the principles of the program to economic and demographic realities and changing needs and preferences of American households. As authorized under section 1110 of the Social Security Act, SSA announces the solicitation of applications for a cooperative agreement to re-compete a Retirement Research Consortium to help inform the public and policymakers about Social Security issues. In the first year, the Consortium will be composed of one or more research centers. The centers will have a combined annual budget of approximately $7.5 million. SSA expects to fund the centers for a period of 5 years, contingent on an annual review process and continued availability of funds.

In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11)), we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish three new systems of records entitled, the Recordings of Service Observations, Call Detail Management Information Report, and the Service Observation Database.

In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11)), we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new system of records entitled Identity Protection Program (IPP) System, 60-0360, and routine uses applicable to this system of records. Hereinafter, we will refer to the proposed system of records as the IPP System. The proposed system of records will consist of information used to provide enhanced protection for employees who reasonably believe that they may be at risk of injury or other harm by the disclosure of their work location and telephone number information, supporting documentation, and the dispositions of the requests for program participation. We invite public comments on this proposal.

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving immune system disorders. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, as well as advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating immune system disorders.

On October 7, 2003, the Commissioner of Social Security published a Notice in the Federal Register (68 FR 57950) announcing the beginning of a demonstration project designed primarily to test the effectiveness of altering certain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other program rules as an incentive to encourage individuals with disabilities or blindness to work or increase their work activity and earnings. In order to complete a more thorough evaluation of this project, we are extending the duration of the altered program rules in three of the seven original project locations and adding three new project locations that will also offer the alternative program rules. The Commissioner of Social Security is publishing this notice in accordance with 20 CFR 416.250(e) and conducting the project pursuant to authority in sections 234 and 1110 of the Social Security Act.

Effective March 23, 2008, we are reinstating New Hampshire as a ``prototype'' State in the disability redesign tests we are conducting under the authority of our regulations. We are also reinstating Maine and Vermont as States that use ``single decisionmakers'' under the same authority. These three States stopped participating in the disability redesign tests on August 1, 2006, when they began to participate in the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) initiative that we have been testing in our Boston region since that date. On January 15, 2008, we published a final rule in the Federal Register suspending the Federal Reviewing Official review level of the DSI process. The final rule will be effective on March 23, 2008. Therefore, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will resume their participation in the disability redesign tests on the effective date of the final rule.

We are issuing this final rule to adopt without change the interim final rule we published on August 9, 2007, which temporarily modifies the prehearing procedures we follow in claims for Social Security disability benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) payments based on disability or blindness. Under this final rule, we are permitting certain attorney advisors to conduct certain prehearing proceedings, and where the documentary record developed as a result of these proceedings warrants, issue decisions that are wholly favorable to the parties to the hearing.

We are considering ways to quickly identify diseases and other serious medical conditions that obviously meet the definition of disability under the Social Security Act (the Act) and can be identified with minimal objective medical information. We are calling this method ``Compassionate Allowances.'' We held one public hearing already and plan to hold additional public hearings this year. This is the second hearing in the series. The purpose of this hearing is to obtain your views about the advisability and possible methods of identifying and implementing compassionate allowances for children and adults with cancers. Our first hearing, on December 4-5, 2007, dealt with rare diseases. We will address other kinds of medical conditions in later hearings.

The Social Security Administration is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on January 15, 2008 (73 FR 2411). The document amends our disability administrative adjudication processes to suspend new claims to the Federal reviewing official (FedRO) level, now operating in the Boston region. Claims already transferred to the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official (OFedRO) for FedRO review will continue to be processed by the OFedRO and a related component of the disability determination process, the Medical and Vocational Expert System (MVES), commonly known as the Office of Medical and Vocational Expertise (OMVE).

In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11)), we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new system of records entitled, Social Security Administration Unified Measurement System/Managerial Cost Accountability System (SUMS/MCAS) 60-0371, and routine uses applicable to this system of records. SUMS/ MCAS will consist of information related to five interrelated Agency initiatives: (1) Workload counts, (2) performance measures, (3) time allocation, (4) customer service records, and (5) managerial cost accountability. We invite public comments on this proposal.

We are revising our title II regulations and adding title XVI regulations on personal conferences when waiver of recovery of an overpayment cannot be approved. These final rules allow for the conferences to be conducted face-to-face, by telephone, or by video teleconference in these circumstances.