Social Security Administration 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are revising our regulations to incorporate changes to the Medicare prescription drug coverage low-income subsidy (Extra Help) program made by the Affordable Care Act which was enacted on March 23, 2010. Under our interpretation of section 3304 of the Affordable Care Act and this interim final rule, if the death of a beneficiary's spouse would decrease or eliminate the subsidy provided by the Extra Help program, we will, based on a determination, or redetermination, extend the effective period of eligibility for the most recent determination or redetermination until 1 year after the month following the month we are notified of the death of the spouse. These regulatory changes will allow us to implement this provision of the Affordable Care Act when it goes into effect on January 1, 2011. We are also revising our regulations to incorporate changes made by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), which affect the way we account for income and resources when determining eligibility for the Extra Help program. The statute provides that we no longer count as a resource the value of any life insurance policy for Extra Help applications filed, or redeterminations that are effective, on or after January 1, 2010. In addition, we will no longer count as income the help a beneficiary receives when someone else provides food and shelter, or pays household bills for food, mortgage, rent, electricity, water, property taxes, or heating fuel or gas. These revisions will update our rules to reflect these statutory changes.

We are announcing that the assessment percentage rate under sections 206(d) and 1631(d)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (Act), 42 U.S.C. 406 (d), and 1383(d)(2)(C), is 6.3 percent for 2011.

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 system of records, the Central Repository of Electronic Authentication Data Master File (hereinafter referred to as the e-Authentication File) and its applicable routine uses. The e-Authentication File will maintain personally identifiable information (PII) we collect and use to verify the identity of persons using our electronic services. We discuss the e-Authentication File and its routine use disclosures in the Supplementary Information section below. We invite public comments on the e-Authentication File.

We are adding a new subpart to our regulations, which contains the rules we will apply to determine the income-related monthly adjustment amount for Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums. This new subpart implements changes made to the Social Security Act (Act) by the Affordable Care Act. These rules parallel the rules in subpart B of this part, which describes the rules we apply when we determine the income-related monthly adjustment amount for certain Medicare Part B (medical insurance) beneficiaries. These rules describe the new subpart; what information we will use to determine whether you will pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount and the amount of the adjustment when applicable; when we will consider a major life- changing event that results in a significant reduction in your modified adjusted gross income; and how you can appeal our determination about your income-related monthly adjustment amount. These rules will allow us to implement the provisions of the Affordable Care Act on time that relate to the income-related monthly adjustment amount for Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums, when they go into effect on January 1, 2011.

Under title II of the Social Security Act (Act), there will be no cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits effective for December 2010. As a result, the following items will remain at their 2010 levels: (1) The maximum Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly benefit amounts for 2011, under title XVI of the Act, will remain $674 for an eligible individual, $1,011 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse, and $338 for an essential person; (2) The special benefit amount under title VIII of the Act for certain World War II veterans will remain $505.50 in 2011; (3) The student earned income exclusion under title XVI of the Act will remain $1,640 per month in 2011, but not more than $6,600 in all of 2011; (4) The dollar fee limit for services performed as a representative payee will remain $37 per month ($72 per month in the case of a beneficiary who is disabled and has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition that leaves him or her incapable of managing benefits) in 2011; (5) The dollar limit on the administrative-cost assessment charged to attorneys representing claimants will remain $83 in 2011; (6) The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) contribution and benefit base will remain $106,800 for remuneration paid in 2011 and self-employment income earned in taxable years beginning in 2011; (7) The monthly exempt amounts under the Social Security retirement earnings test for taxable years ending in calendar year 2011 will remain $1,180 and $3,140; (8) The ``old-law'' contribution and benefit base under title II of the Act will remain $79,200 for 2011; and (9) The monthly amount deemed to constitute substantial gainful activity for statutorily blind individuals in 2011 will remain $1,640. The national average wage index for 2009 is $40,711.61. This index affects the following items: (1) The dollar amounts (``bend points'') used in the primary insurance amount benefit formula for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2011 will be $749 and $4,517; (2) The bend points used in the formula for computing maximum family benefits for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2011 will be $957, $1,382, and $1,803; (3) The amount of taxable earnings a person must have to be credited with a quarter of coverage in 2011 will be $1,120; (4) The monthly amount deemed to constitute substantial gainful activity for non-blind disabled persons will be $1,000 in 2011; (5) The earnings threshold establishing a month as a part of a trial work period will be $720 for 2011; and (6) Coverage thresholds for 2011 will be $1,700 for domestic workers and $1,500 for election officials and election workers.

We are reopening for a limited purpose the comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that we published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2010 (75 FR 51336). We are reopening the comment period for 15 days to clarify and to seek additional public comment about an aspect of the proposed definitions of the terms ``marked'' and ``extreme'' in sections 12.00 and 112.00 of our Listing of Impairments (listings). We are reopening the comment period to accept comments about that issue only. We will not consider comments on any other aspects of the proposed listings for mental disorders that we receive during this reopened comment period.

We are announcing the following demonstration project relating to the Social Security disability program under title II of the Social Security Act (Act). Under this project, we will test modifications to current title II program rules that we apply to beneficiaries who work and receive title II benefits based on disability. We will also modify current rules for paying outcome payments to providers of services under the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (Ticket to Work program). We are conducting this project, called the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND), under the demonstration authority provided in section 234 of the Act. In this project, we are testing the use of a benefit offset based on earnings as an alternative to certain rules that we currently apply to title II disability beneficiaries who work. Under the benefit offset, we will reduce title II disability benefits by $1 for every $2 that a beneficiary earns above a substantial gainful activity threshold amount. This alternative rule will allow a beneficiary to receive reduced benefit payments when we would ordinarily stop payments under our usual rules because of the beneficiary's work and earnings. In selecting beneficiaries to participate in the project, we will include some beneficiaries who receive only title II disability benefits. We also will include some beneficiaries who receive both title II disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) based on disability or blindness under title XVI of the Act. However, we are only modifying title II program rules for beneficiaries who participate in the project. We will continue to apply the usual SSI program rules for participants who receive SSI payments in addition to title II disability benefits.

We are initiating a self-evaluation of our policies and practices supporting section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under section 504, Federal agencies are required to provide meaningful access to their programs and activities to qualified persons with disabilities. We are interested in any ideas and suggestions you have about how we should conduct a self-evaluation. We are particularly interested in ideas and suggestions from persons with disabilities, their family members, and those who work with or advocate for persons with disabilities. As we proceed with the self-evaluation, we will provide an additional opportunity to interested persons to participate by submitting comments about our policies and practices.

Under title II of the Social Security Act (Act), there will be no cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits effective for December 2010. As a result, the following items will remain at their 2010 levels: (1) The maximum Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly benefit amounts for 2011, under title XVI of the Act, will remain $674 for an eligible individual, $1,011 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse, and $338 for an essential person; (2) The special benefit amount under title VIII of the Act for certain World War II veterans will remain $505.50 in 2011; (3) The student earned income exclusion under title XVI of the Act will remain $1,640 per month in 2011, but not more than $6,600 in all of 2011; (4) The dollar fee limit for services performed as a representative payee will remain $37 per month ($72 per month in the case of a beneficiary who is disabled and has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition that leaves him or her incapable of managing benefits) in 2011; (5) The dollar limit on the administrative-cost assessment charged to attorneys representing claimants will remain $83 in 2011; (6) The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) contribution and benefit base will remain $106,800 for remuneration paid in 2011 and self-employment income earned in taxable years beginning in 2011; (7) The monthly exempt amounts under the Social Security retirement earnings test for taxable years ending in calendar year 2011 will remain $1,180 and $3,140; (8) The ``old-law'' contribution and benefit base under title II of the Act will remain $79,200 for 2011; and (9) The monthly amount deemed to constitute substantial gainful activity for statutorily blind individuals in 2011 will remain $1,640. The national average wage index for 2009 is $40,934.93. This index affects the following items: (1) The dollar amounts (``bend points'') used in the primary insurance amount benefit formula for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2011 will be $753 and $4,542; (2) The bend points used in the formula for computing maximum family benefits for workers who become eligible for benefits, or who die before becoming eligible, in 2011 will be $963, $1,390, and $1,812; (3) The amount of taxable earnings a person must have to be credited with a quarter of coverage in 2011 will be $1,120; (4) The monthly amount deemed to constitute substantial gainful activity for non-blind disabled persons will be $1,000 in 2011; (5) The earnings threshold establishing a month as a part of a trial work period will be $720 for 2011; and (6) Coverage thresholds for 2011 will be $1,700 for domestic workers and $1,500 for election officials and election workers.

We need information about work that exists throughout the nation to determine whether claimants' impairments prevent them from doing not only their past work, but any other work in the U.S. economy. To that end, we are developing a long term strategy to obtain current and suitable occupational information critical for disability evaluation. In 2008, we established the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (Panel) to provide independent advice and recommendations on plans and activities to create an occupational information system tailored specifically for our disability programs and adjudicative needs. The Panel is soliciting comments on a recommendation it intends to make to us.

We are revising our rules on a temporary basis to permit State agency disability examiners to make fully favorable determinations in certain claims for disability benefits under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act) without the approval of a State agency medical or psychological consultant. These changes apply only to claims we consider under our rules for quick disability determinations (QDD) or under our compassionate allowance initiative.

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 (Act) and can be identified with minimal objective medical information. We are calling this method ``Compassionate Allowances.'' In December 2007, April 2008, November 2008, July 2009, and November 2009, we held Compassionate Allowance public hearings. These hearings concerned rare diseases, cancers, traumatic brain injury and stroke, early-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and schizophrenia, respectively. This hearing is the sixth 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 both adults and children with cardiovascular diseases and multiple organ transplants. We plan to address other medical conditions at subsequent hearings.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a renewal of an existing computer matching program that we are currently conducting with RRB.

The Social Security Administration published a document in the Federal Register of September 13, 2010, announcing an upcoming panel teleconference meeting of the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel. The document contained an incorrect timeframe for the meeting.

We are revising our regulations to incorporate improvements to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program made by the HEART Act. The HEART Act changes the way we treat certain cash payments to members of the uniformed services and veterans and the way we treat cash and in-kind payments to AmeriCorps volunteers. In addition, we are making a technical change to our rules to reflect the correct section of the Internal Revenue Code.

We are revising our regulations to reflect changes made in the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 (CAAA) to the entitlement and termination requirements for Social Security child's benefits to stepchildren. Under the CAAA, we consider a stepchild as dependent on a stepparent to receive child's benefits based on the stepparent's earnings only if the stepchild receives at least one-half support from the stepparent. Also, we terminate a stepchild's benefits that are based on the stepparent's earnings if the stepchild's parent or adoptive parent and the stepparent divorce, unless the stepparent adopted the stepchild and the stepchild can qualify for benefits as the stepparent's adopted child.

We propose to revise the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving mental disorders in adults and children under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). We also propose to remove certain sections of our regulations and incorporate some of their provisions into other sections of our regulations. The proposed revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, recommendations from a report we commissioned, and comments we received from experts and the public in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) and at an outreach policy conference.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a renewal of an existing computer matching program that we are currently conducting with IRS.