Social Security Administration (SSA).
Notice of the extension of tests involving modifications to the disability determination procedures.
We are announcing the extension of tests involving modifications to our disability determination procedures that we are conducting under the authority of current rules codified at 20 CFR 404.906 and 416.1406. These rules provide authority to test several modifications to the disability determination procedures that we normally follow in adjudicating claims for disability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (the Act) and for supplemental security income payments based on disability under title XVI of the Act. We have decided to extend the testing of two redesign features of the disability prototype for 6 months to enable us to address transition issues.
We are extending our selection of cases to be included in these tests from June 30, 2003 until no later than December 31, 2003. If we decide to continue selection of cases for these tests beyond this date, we will publish another notice in the
Phil Landis, Disability Process Redesign Staff, Office of Disability Determinations, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235–6401, 410–965–5388.
Current regulations at 20 CFR 404.906 and 416.1406 authorize us to test, individually, or in any combination, different modifications to the disability determination procedures. We have conducted several tests under the authority of these rules, including a prototype that incorporates a number of modifications to the disability determination procedures that the State agencies use. The prototype included three redesign features, and we previously extended the tests of two of those features: the use of a single decisionmaker, in which a disability examiner may make the initial disability determination in most cases without requiring the signature of a medical consultant; and elimination of the reconsideration level of review. We are now announcing a further extension of the testing of these two features.
We also have conducted another test involving the use of a single decisionmaker who may make the initial disability determination in most cases without requiring the signature of a medical consultant. We are also extending the period during which we
On August 30, 1999, we published in the
This extension also applies to the locations in the State of New York that we added to the prototype test in a notice published in the