Social Security simplifies disability evaluation process
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 program and the Supplemental Security Income 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 made changes that will reduce administrative burdens for applicants and help more people with disabilities receive government benefits and services if they are eligible. Social Security published a final rule April 18 announcing updates that 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, Social Security commissioner. “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, which took effect June 22, the agency will review only five years of past work when determining past relevant work. The previous policy required people to provide detailed information about 15 years of work history. 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.
Additional improvements to Social Security’s disability program include updating the definition of a public assistance household, excluding the the value of food from SSI benefit calculations, and expanding its rental subsidy exception to a nationwide policy.
For more information on the SSDI and SSI programs, including who is eligible, how to apply and how Social Security makes a disability determination, go to ssa.gov/disability and ssa.gov/ssi.
