Social Security Administration June 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Cardiovascular System, Endocrine System, Growth Impairment, Hematological Disorders, Musculoskeletal System, Mental Disorders, Neurological, and Respiratory System. We are making no other revisions to these body system listings. This extension will ensure that we continue to have in the listings the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at the appropriate steps of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

We are revising the threshold billing amount that triggers annual on-site reviews of medical providers who conduct consultative examinations (CEs) for our disability programs under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). The revision will raise the threshold amount to reflect the increase in billing amounts since we first established the threshold amount in 1991. We expect the revised threshold amount will reestablish the level of oversight activity we required under our original rules.

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving hearing loss under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating hearing loss, and public comments we received in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).