Social Security Administration 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are publishing a final rule we proposed in November 2018 regarding setting the time, place, and manner of appearance for hearings at the administrative law judge (ALJ) level of our administrative review process, with modifications. Our final rule states that we (the agency) will determine how parties and witnesses will appear at a hearing before an ALJ, and that we will set the time and place for the hearing accordingly. We will schedule the parties to a hearing to appear by video teleconference (VTC), in person, or, in limited circumstances, by telephone. Under this final rule, we will decide how parties and witnesses will appear at a hearing based on several factors, but the parties to a hearing will continue to have the ability to opt out of appearing by VTC at the ALJ hearings level. Finally, we are revising our rule to state that, at the ALJ hearing level, if we need to send an amended notice of hearing, or if we need to schedule a supplemental hearing, we will send the amended notice or notice of supplemental hearing at least 20 days before the date of the hearing. The date of hearing indicated in the amended notice or notice of supplemental hearing will be at least 75 days from the date we first sent the claimant a notice of hearing, unless the claimant has waived his or her right to advance notice.

We are announcing that the assessment percentage rate under the Social Security Act (Act) is 6.3 percent for 2020.

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Musculoskeletal System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, Skin Disorders, and Immune System Disorders. We are making no other revisions to these body systems in this final rule. This extension ensures that we will continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

We are announcing the fourteenth National Disability Forum. The purpose of this public forum is to obtain feedback from experts in their field on what impairments have a likelihood to improve. This forum will be moderated, and include up to five panelists presenting information on the topic. Additionally, there will be a combined question and answer session during which the panelists will address questions from those on site and received by email during the forum.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to modify an existing system of records entitled, Claims Folders System (60-0089), last published on April 1, 2003. This notice publishes details of the modified system as set forth under the caption, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

On February 15, 2019, we published final rules in the Federal Register to prohibit persons convicted of certain crimes from serving as representative payees under the Social Security Act (Act), as required by the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018. Those final rules inadvertently included two words in three places that should not have been there, and omitted one word in two sections of the rules. This document corrects the inadvertent inclusions and omissions in the final rules.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the Department of Labor (DOL). The matching agreement (agreement) establishes the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which DOL will disclose the DOL- administered Part C Black Lung (BL) benefit data to SSA. SSA will match DOL's Part C BL data with SSA's records of persons receiving Social Security disability benefits to verify that Part C BL beneficiaries are receiving the correct amount of Social Security disability benefits.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The matching agreement (agreement) sets forth the terms, conditions, and safeguards under which VA/VBA will provide SSA with information necessary to: (1) Identify certain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Special Veterans Benefit (SVB) recipients under Title XVI and Title VIII of the Social Security Act (Act), respectively, who receive VA-administered benefits; (2) determine the eligibility or amount of payment for SSI and SVB recipients; and (3) identify the income of individuals who may be eligible for Medicare cost-sharing assistance through the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP) as part of the agency's Medicare outreach efforts.

On July 2, 2018, we published final rules in the Federal Register revising our rules of conduct and standards of responsibility for representatives. Those final rules reduced the amount of time to request Appeals Council review of a hearing officer's decision from 30 days to 14 business days, but we inadvertently failed to make the same change in the parallel sections of the CFR, which details when the Appeals Council will dismiss a request for review. This document corrects the omitted sections and makes our regulations consistent.

We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Respiratory Disorders and Genitourinary Disorders. We are making no other revisions to these body systems in this final rule. This extension ensures that we will continue to have the criteria we need to evaluate impairments in the affected body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation processes for initial claims and continuing disability reviews.

We are issuing a final rule to exempt a system of records entitled Security and Suitability Files. This final rule also removes two systems of records listed in our exemptions, but which do not exist, and will replace them with a new exemption for this specified system of records from specific provisions of the Privacy Act.\1\

We are giving notice of SSR 19-3p. This SSR explains the two options available to claimants appealing our determinations that they are not disabled based on medical factors. In this SSR, we explain both the paper and electronic appeal options for requesting reconsideration or a hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ), and the similarities and differences between these two options. We explain these options to help claimants make informed decisions when deciding whether to use the paper appeal or electronic appeal option to request reconsideration or a hearing.

We propose to revise the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving digestive and skin disorders in adults and children under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). The proposed revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, and comments we received from experts and the public in response to two advance notices of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM).

The Social Security Administration published a System of Records Notice (SORN) in the Federal Register on Monday, April 15, 2019 concerning the Mass Emergency Notification System. That document contained an incorrect SORN number. This notice corrects that error.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a new matching program with the States, including tribal agencies and United States (U.S.) territories.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to modify an existing system of records entitled, Completed Determination RecordContinuing Disability Determinations, (60-0050), last published in January 11, 2006. This notice publishes details of the proposed updates as set forth below under the caption SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new system of records entitled, Mass Emergency Notification System (MENS) (60-0386), hereinafter called the MENS Record System. This notice publishes details of the new system as set forth under the caption, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.