[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 65 (Friday, April 4, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16209-16210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8711]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Testing Modifications to the Disability Determination Procedures; 
Federal Processing Center Testing

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of the test site and the duration of testing involving 
modifications to the disability determination procedures.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing the 
location and the duration of additional testing that it will conduct 
under the current rules at 20 CFR Secs. 404.906, 404.943, 416.1406, and 
416.1443. Those rules authorize the testing of 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 claims for supplemental security 
income (SSI) based on disability under title XVI of the Act. This 
notice announces the test site and duration of testing involving a 
combination of features of the proposed redesigned disability process. 
The notice also describes additional features that will allow us to 
test the effectiveness of processing cases under a combination of the 
models in a Federal processing center.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Pippin, Disability Models Team 
Leader, Office of Disability, Disability Process Redesign Staff, Social 
Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 
21235, 410-965-9203.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Current regulations at 20 CFR Secs. 404.906, 
404.943, 416.1406, and 416.1443 authorize us to test different 
modifications to the disability determination procedures. We describe 
the use of all four features of the testing modifications to the 
disability determination procedures as the full process model. Those 
modifications are: the use of a single decisionmaker who may make the 
disability determination without requiring the signature of a medical 
consultant; the conducting of a predecisional interview in which a 
claimant, for whom SSA does not have sufficient information to make a 
fully favorable determination or the evidence requires an initial 
determination denying the claim, can present additional information to 
the decisionmaker; the elimination of the reconsideration step in the 
administrative review process; and the use of an adjudication officer 
who will conduct prehearing procedures and, if appropriate, will issue 
a decision wholly favorable to the claimant.

[[Page 16210]]

    We intend to test the full process model in a Federal processing 
center. The location for this test will be: Social Security 
Administration, Western Program Service Center, 2121 Nevin Avenue, 
Richmond, California, 94802.
    We may add other Federal sites later. If we add other Federal 
sites, we will publish another notice in the Federal Register 
identifying the added sites. The test in Richmond will involve claims 
by individuals who wish to file by telephone. These cases will be 
referred to the Richmond processing center by teleservice centers that 
service residents of Arizona.
    This test will combine the four process modifications mentioned 
above, plus two features designed to maximize the resources of a 
Federal processing center: having a two-person team complete the 
application interview by telephone; and effectuating, in the processing 
center, the payment of benefits to claimants who are found disabled. We 
will begin selecting cases for processing in this test on or about 
April 28, 1997, will continue to select cases for approximately one 
year, and may continue to have cases processed for an additional six 
months. In addition, we may choose to extend the test to obtain 
additional data. We will publish another notice in the Federal Register 
if we extend the duration of the test. The adjudication officers under 
this model will process cases as they are doing in those States in 
which that feature is being tested separately. (Refer to 20 CFR 
Secs. 404.943 and 416.1443.) The single decisionmaker will process 
cases as single decisionmakers are doing in those States in which that 
feature is being tested separately (see 20 CFR Secs. 404.906(b)(2) and 
416.1406(b)(2)), except that the single decisionmaker in this model 
also will assist in the claims interview and will offer a predecisional 
interview to a claimant for whom a fully favorable determination cannot 
be made based on the initial information obtained. If a claimant is 
dissatisfied with the initial determination, he or she may appeal 
directly to an administrative law judge. The adjudication officer will 
be the claimant's primary point of contact before a hearing is held 
with an administrative law judge. Claims authorizers will participate 
in the telephone claims interview and will effectuate payment to 
claimants who are found disabled.

    Dated: March 28, 1997.
Carolyn W. Colvin,
Deputy Commissioner for Programs and Policy.
[FR Doc. 97-8711 Filed 4-3-97; 8:45 am]
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