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

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.