[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 68963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30595]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Modifications to the Disability Determination Procedures; 
Extension of Testing of Some Disability Redesign Features

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of the extension of tests involving modifications to the 
disability determination procedures.

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SUMMARY: 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. On September 25, 2003, we announced an approach to 
improve the disability determination process. We have decided to extend 
the testing of two redesign features of the disability prototype for 21 
months to ensure a smooth transition while these changes to the 
disability determination process are being developed.

DATES: We are extending our selection of cases to be included in these 
tests from December 31, 2003 until no later than September 30, 2005. If 
we decide to continue selection of cases for these tests beyond this 
date, we will publish another notice in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phil Landis, Disability Process 
Redesign Staff, Office of Disability Determinations, Social Security 
Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-
6401, 410-965-5388.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 will select cases to be 
included in this test of the single decisionmaker feature.

Extension of Testing of Some Disability Redesign Features

    On August 30, 1999, we published in the Federal Register a notice 
announcing a prototype that would test a new disability claims process 
in 10 States, also called the prototype process (64 FR 47218). On 
December 23, 1999, we published a notice in the Federal Register (65 FR 
72134) extending the period during which we would select cases to be 
included in a separate test of the single decisionmaker feature. In 
these notices, we stated that selection of cases was expected to be 
concluded on or about December 31, 2001. We also stated that, if we 
decided to continue the tests beyond that date, we would publish 
another notice in the Federal Register. We subsequently published 
notices in the Federal Register extending selection of cases for these 
tests. Most recently, on June 30, 2003, we published a notice extending 
selection of cases for the tests until no later than December 31, 2003 
(68 FR 38737). We also stated that, if we decided to continue selection 
of cases for these tests beyond that date, we would publish another 
notice in the Federal Register. We have decided to extend selection of 
cases for two features of the prototype process (single decisionmaker 
and elimination of the reconsideration step), and the separate test of 
single decisionmaker beyond December 31, 2003. We expect that our 
selection of cases for these tests will end on or before September 30, 
2005.
    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 
Federal Register on December 26, 2000 (65 FR 81553).

    Dated: December 1, 2003.
Martin H. Gerry,
Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs.
[FR Doc. 03-30595 Filed 12-9-03; 8:45 am]
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