[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 215 (Monday, November 8, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64702-64703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24782]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Part 404

[Regulation No. 4]
RIN 0960-AF28


Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Impairments of the 
Digestive System

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Proposed rules; limited reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening for limited purposes the comment period for 
the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that we published in the 
Federal Register on November 14, 2001 (66 FR 57009). We have decided to 
reopen the comment period for 60 days to solicit additional public 
comments on our proposal to revise and remove several of the chronic 
liver disease listings from the Listing of Impairments (the listings) 
because we believe that the revisions we propose are significant. We 
are reopening the comment period only to accept comments about chronic 
liver disease. Due to the limited reopening of the NPRM, we will not 
consider any comments on other aspects of the proposed listings for the 
digestive system.

DATES: To be sure your comments are considered, we must receive them by 
January 7, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may give us your comments by: using our Internet site 
facility (i.e., Social Security Online) at: http://policy.ssa. gov/
pnpublic.nsf/LawsRegs or the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov; e-mail to [email protected]; telefax to (410) 
966-2830; or by letter to the Commissioner of Social Security, P.O. Box 
17703, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-7703. You may also deliver them to the 
Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, 107 Altmeyer 
Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, 
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on regular business days. Comments are 
posted on our Internet site, at http://policy.ssa. gov/pnpublic.nsf/
LawsRegs or you may inspect them on regular business days by making 
arrangements with the contact person shown in this preamble.
    Electronic Version: The electronic file of this document is 
available on the date of publication in the Federal Register at http://www.gpoaccess. gov/fr/index.html. It is also available on the Internet 
site for SSA (i.e., Social Security Online) at: http://policy.ssa. gov/
pnpublic.nsf/LawsRegs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne DiMarino, Social Insurance 
Specialist, Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, 107 
Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-
6401, (410) 965-1767 or TTY (410) 966-5609. For information on 
eligibility or filing for benefits, call our national toll-free number, 
1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or visit our Internet Web site, 
Social Security Online, at www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 14, 2001, we published ``Revised 
Medical Criteria for Evaluating Impairments of the Digestive System'' 
as an NPRM in the Federal Register (66 FR 57009). You may find this 
document at our Web site: http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/ rules.nsf/
5da82b031 a6677dc85256b41006b7f8d/ a37bb476cb 227bdd85256b410067a74d? 
OpenDocument.
    This NPRM proposed to revise the criteria in the Listings that we 
use to evaluate claims involving impairments of the digestive system. 
We explained in the proposed rules that we were revising and removing 
several of the chronic liver disease listings because of the progress 
in medical and surgical advancements in treating these diseases. When 
we published the NPRM, we provided a 60-day comment period that ended 
January 14, 2002. We have reviewed and considered all the comments we 
received during the comment period. However, we received few comments 
regarding our proposed revisions to the listings that specifically 
involve chronic liver disease. Because we believe that the revisions we 
propose are significant, we want to ensure that the public has another 
opportunity to review and comment on those proposals involving the 
evaluation of chronic liver disease. In order to allow the public 
sufficient time to review and comment on our proposals, we have decided 
to provide an additional 60-day comment period within which to comment 
on our proposal to revise and remove several of the listings for 
evaluating chronic liver disease. If you have already provided comments 
on the proposals, your comments will be considered and you do not need 
to resubmit them.


[[Page 64703]]


    Dated: November 1, 2004.
Jo Anne B. Barnhart,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 04-24782 Filed 11-5-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P