Social Security Administration April 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Social Security Administration published a document in the Federal Register of April 13, 2016, in FR Doc. 2016-08467, on page 21949, in the first column; remove the reference to SSR 96-7p, Titles II and XVI: Evaluation of Symptoms in Disability Claims: Assessing the Credibility of an Individual's Statements; add the reference SSR 16-3p, Titles II and XVI: Evaluation of Symptoms in Disability Claims.

This notice provides advance notification of the requirement that, for claims with certified electronic folders pending at the hearing or Appeals Council levels, an appointed representative must access and obtain a claimant's folder through Appointed Representative Services (ARS) in matters for which the representative requests direct fee payment. Except under the limited circumstances described in this notice, we will no longer provide compact disc (CD) copies of the electronic folder to appointed representatives who request direct payment of fees. We are implementing this requirement to improve administrative efficiency, ensure that representatives can provide the best possible service to claimants by using the most up-to-date information in the claim(s) folder, and manage the unprecedented workload pending in the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).

This final rule adopts, with one additional change, the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that we published in the Federal Register on January 4, 2016. This final rule revises our rules by incorporating changes made by the ABLE Act to section 224(a) of the Social Security Act (Act). Under this final rule, the age at which disability insurance benefits (DIB) are no longer subject to reduction (offset) based on receipt of workers' compensation or public disability benefits (WC/PDB) changes from age 65 to the day the individual attains full retirement age.