Social Security to Simplify Disability Evaluation Process – Agency to Reduce Work History Period to 5 Years
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: June 26, 2024
When people become disabled under the statutory definition the Social Security Administration must follow, the agency helps them meet their basic needs and sustain a higher quality of life. Social Security administers disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Under both programs, the agency follows a five-step process to determine if an adult has a qualifying disability.
In response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, the agency is proud to announce changes that will reduce administrative burdens for applicants and help more people with disabilities receive government benefits and services if they are eligible. On April 18, 2024, Social Security published a final rule, “Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process, Including How We Consider Past Work.”
The final rule announces updates that will improve the application process for disability benefits and reduce the time applicants wait for a decision.
The new rule simplifies step four of the process, which assesses whether a person applying for disability benefits can perform any of their “past relevant work.”
“This new rule will lessen the burden and time our applicants face when filling out information about their work history and will make it easier for them to focus on the most current and relevant details about their past work,” said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security. “It also improves the quality of the information our frontline workers receive to make decisions, improving customer service, and reducing case processing time and overall wait times.”
Under the final rule, beginning June 22, 2024, when determining past relevant work, the agency will review only five years of past work. The previous policy required people to provide detailed information about 15 years of work history, which was difficult for individuals to remember and often led to incomplete or inaccurate reporting. Also, the agency will no longer consider past work that started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days. The new rule makes it easier for people applying for benefits by focusing on their most recent relevant work activity while still providing enough information to continue making accurate determinations.
This final rule is one of several regulation updates Social Security is publishing to improve its disability program. The agency recently announced it will reduce barriers to access the SSI program by updating the definition of a public assistance household. The agency also announced it will exclude the value of food from SSI benefit calculations. Additionally, the agency announced it will expand its rental subsidy exception, currently only in place for SSI applicants and recipients residing in seven States, as a nationwide policy.
The agency continuously examines programmatic policy and makes regulatory and sub-regulatory changes as appropriate. For more information on the SSDI and SSI programs – including who is eligible, how to apply, and how Social Security makes a disability determination – visit Disability and SSI.
To read the final rule, visit the Federal Register: Intermediate Improvement to the Disability Adjudication Process, Including How We Consider Past Work.
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Tags: Disability, Social Security benefits, social security disability benefits, SSI, supplemental security income
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Feeling A.
I was denied recently by alj decision that I could do prior work, citing ‘storage facility rental person.’
Two problems with that. My prior experience was 12 years prior to alj hearing, it was as my own business, as a storage ‘broker’ having only 1 client, requiring 2 emailed invoices and paying 3 expenses, once per month for each and doing so from home. I’ve never even seen the facility this was at. Not comparable at all. The business ended when that 1 client decided to throw the contents away and storage ended. There was no additional room at the facility so the business was never expanded beyond the 1 client.
Secondly, and my question is, with the June 8 rule, will there be any consideration for cases denied at the alj level based on prior work whether accurately compared or not? My conditions are so bad and I’ve been inundated with so many dr appointments, I finally just collapsed and have spent several months in bed just trying to get through each day’s pain and mental health issues and heading toward homelessness. Because of my limitations and declining situation, among other good causes, I actually missed the appeal deadline. I am still waiting on additional records from IRS that the judge had said should be included. He decided not to wait for them and denied based on the prior work thing.
Karla B.
I have recently fallen and had to have surgery, now I can not bear any weight for 10 weeks, than I will be in a walking boot but I don’t for how long
Erwin B.
I Erwin Bennett DOB:03/19/1954, SSA and SSI benefits for being injuried on the job while living and working in Muskegon, MI 49442 at aamco transmission service as a Michigan Certified Transmission Rebuilder from a head injury crack in my skull causing unconscious sleep seizures that causes uncontrollable muscle truma internal body and joints injuries and sometimes temporary memory lose. After moving to Fulton County Atlanta Georgia in the year of 2003 to start treatment for unconscious sleep seizures my patient protection rights was violated by Grady Memorial Hospital Atlanta GA medical professionals and specialists by never ordering my neurological medical records from Muskegon MI hospitals, which lead to the unneeded misdiagnosed heart surgery without Michigan neurological medical records in the year of 09/2012 because my neurological medical condition could be easily misdiagnosed for a serious heart problem hospital emergency room doctors and specialists did have heart surgery without Michigan neurological medical records while I was in need of immediate neurological medical care and still have to give me immediate neurological medical care immediately after unneeded misdiagnosed heart surgery without Michigan neurological medical records to save my life after destroying my physical abilities by cutting my body to pieces without any knowledge of my neurological medical condition and have replaced my neurological medical condition with false medical information of me having a heart problem to cover up doctors and specialists negligence malpractices. This MedicareHumana group of Hospitals primary care clinics doctors and specialists still refusing to order critically needed Michigan neurological medical records to give me immediately needed neurological medical care for these unconscious sleep seizures and have made my life a living hell in chronic pains 24/7 everyday. Since I am unconscious everytime a family member has me transported hospitals emergency rooms in MedicareHumana group and this serious neurological medical condition has been illegally taken out of my records by Emory University Midtown Hospital’s doctors and specialists and SSA and SSI always puts my life at serious risks everytime I have to go to hospital emergency room in MedicareHumana group of Hospitals.
Dawn m.
I’m on SSD now can I Apply for SSI also
S.S.
Hi, Dawn. Thanks for reading our blog and for your questions. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a needs-based program that makes payments to people 65 or older, and people with disabilities, who have limited resources and little or no income. The SSI resource limit is $2,000 for an individual, $3,000 for a couple. Some resources are excluded, including their home and vehicle. Income includes wages, Social Security benefits, unemployment, and pensions. We don’t count all income.
If a person lives alone, and has resources worth less than $2,000, and their only income is your monthly Social Security benefit, they may be eligible for both SSI and Social Security – commonly referred to as “concurrent” benefits. To be eligible for both, their 2024 monthly Social Security benefit should be less than $963. That’s the SSI monthly Federal payment rate for an individual plus $20. Generally, the more income they have, the less your SSI payment will be. You’ll find more details in our publication, What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income. If you have questions or want to schedule an appointment to apply for SSI, you can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. We hope this helps.
erwin l.
The current published schedule for Social Security and SSI benefit payments easy-to-read calendar is for 2023. When will it be refreshed for 2024 or can you provide a link to the correct viewable site.
H. D.
Please answer this question: Will the new ruling regarding reducing the look back period allow SSDI applicants to re-apply for a redetermination to Disabled Adult Child? In other words, is this new ruling applicable for new applicants only? Our daughter was denied a redetermination due to earning above the income guidelines over 20 years ago.
Lia
I keep leaving comments here and they are disappearing. I need help from the SSA about a few issues. Could someone please email or call me?
Lia
FINAL COMMENT: This is a separate note…my husband initially applied for SSDi in March of 2021 only to get denied at the hearing stage in November of 2023. He had mountains of medical evidence to back up his disability claim, and has since refiled. He has new medical evidence, as well as notes from 2 of his Drs backing him up. I feel like the SSA unfairly denied him benefits even though he had mountains of medical evidence. What does he exactly have to do to prove to the SSa he is disabled in the ssas eyes?! He has had multiple suicide attempts Carple tunnle back problems ALL BACKED UP BY DRS RECORDS! And new medical evidence this time around! What’s it gonna take!?!
NoVa
Getting an attorney is your best recourse
These people are trained to screw Americans out of disability. They made it so bad that they’ve created a niche for attorneys now from what I’ve been told, it’s virtually impossible to get the benefit that’s deserved without an attorney
And yet people who are not disabled, still manage to beat the System, well valid individuals are screwed over and left to rot
Wonder how they’re doing that? Not good
S.D.
We’re sorry to hear about your husband’s situation, Lia. We pay disability benefits to people who are unable to work because of a medical condition that is expected to last at least 12 months or to end in death. To add new medical evidence, documents, or a medical source to your husband’s pending disability application, you can mail or take the information to your local Social Security office. In addition to medical evidence, we need to know about his past work to decide if he can still do that work. If he cannot do his past work, we look at his age, education, and training to see if he can do other kinds of work. To learn more, visit Disability Benefits – How You Qualify.
PH
My understanding is grid rules aren’t applicable to claims with both mental and physical impairments, are you sure this answer is correct?
Lia
I tried calling the social security national number today I was on hold for over an hour …I finally had to just hang up because nobody answered. It’s regarding my direct deposit…
S.D.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience, Lia. Reducing call wait times is a priority of Social Security Commissioner Martin J. O’Malley. You can learn more about the Commissioner’s top three priorities in our blog and a recent episode of SSA Talks. If you still need to speak with a representative, you can contact your local Social Security office. Or you can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wait times to speak to a representative are typically shorter in the morning, later in the week, and later in the month. Our automated telephone services are available 24 hours a day and do not require you to wait to speak with a representative. In the future, the most convenient way to do business with us is to visit our website to get information and use our online services.
Kell
Hey, so I hope your issue was taken care of. I had the same issues with phone calls. It helped me a lot when I called my local security office. I barely had to wait on phone I got more personal service, so try that next time. Maybe it was luck but it happened on a few occasions! Best of luck to us 🤞🏻