H.R. 10496: Revising SSDI Disability Classifications Act

This bill would make two main changes to Social Security disability rules.

1. It extends an existing Social Security demonstration authority

The bill would move several expiration dates for a Social Security demonstration authority from 2021/2022 to 2036/2037. In plain terms, this keeps the Social Security Administration’s ability to run certain test projects in place for many more years instead of letting that authority expire.

2. It creates a new 10-year disability classification test program

The bill directs the Social Security Commissioner to run a 10-year demonstration project, starting one year after enactment, for people who receive disability insurance benefits under Social Security. The program would replace certain existing disability review procedures for people included in the test.

Under the project, people who are found disabled would be placed into one of four categories based on how likely their medical condition is to improve:

• Category 1: conditions that are chronic or progressive, with permanent or irreversible loss, and no known effective treatment expected to restore the person to no longer being disabled.

• Category 2: conditions where the person is not expected to improve enough to no longer be disabled within 60 months, though improvement later is still possible.

• Category 3: conditions where improvement enough to end disability is expected in 25 to 60 months.

• Category 4: conditions where improvement enough to end disability is expected in 12 to 24 months.

People in each category would be reviewed again on different schedules to see whether they are still disabled:

• Category 1: review in the 7th or 8th year after classification

• Category 2: review in the 4th or 5th year

• Category 3: review in the 2nd or 3rd year

• Category 4: review in the 2nd year

3. Participation rules and limits

The bill says the Social Security Administration could use procedures like random selection to make sure enough people participate for the test to produce useful results, and people could be given the chance to decline participation.

It also says a person could not be placed in the most permanent category only because of age if a less severe classification is more appropriate.

There would generally be no appeal of the classification decision itself, except a person could ask for reconsideration to fix a factual mistake, such as a clerical or administrative error.

4. What the test is meant to study

The purpose of the project is to see whether these new categories and review schedules improve:

• program integrity, including the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund

• administrative efficiency

• workforce participation among beneficiaries

The Commissioner would have to report to Congress three years after enactment, and then every two years after that for four additional reports, on the project’s results. Those reports would include effects on the trust fund, how long participants and other beneficiaries have received benefits, employment outcomes, and administrative efficiency.

Relevant Companies

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