[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 189 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57415-57416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16074]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Part 404

RIN 0960-AG31


Administrative Review Process for Adjudicating Initial Disability 
Claims; Correction

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: This document contains a correction to the final regulations 
that were published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2006 (71 FR 
16424). The regulations amended our administrative review process for 
applications for benefits that are based on whether you are disabled 
under title II of the Social Security Act (the Act), or applications 
for supplemental security income (SSI) payments that are based on 
whether you are disabled or blind under title XVI of the Act.

DATES: Effective on August 1, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Bresnick, Social Insurance 
Specialist, Office of Regulations, Social Security Administration, 100 
Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, 
(410) 965-1758 or TTY (410) 966-5609 for information about this notice. 
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 site, Social Security Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final rule published on March 31, 2006 
and effective on August 1, 2006 included an amendment to the first 
sentence of Sec. Sec.  404.1526(c) and 416.926(c). However, before that 
rule was published, another rule published on March 1, 2006 (71 FR 
10419) added a new paragraph (c) to each section and redesignated each 
former paragraph (c) as paragraph (d). We inadvertently failed to 
change the designation of paragraph (c) in Sec.  404.1526 in the rule 
published on March 31, 2006. (We correctly changed Sec.  416.926.) 
Thus, in the Code of Federal Regulations, this resulted in a change in 
Sec.  404.1526 to the first sentence of the new paragraph (c), not 
paragraph (d), as intended. (The first sentence of Sec.  416.926(d) was 
changed correctly.) To be sure that there is no confusion as to the 
intended content of either paragraph, we are printing paragraphs (c) 
and (d) in their entirety in this correcting amendment.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 404

    Administrative practice and procedure; Blind, Disability benefits; 
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance; Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements; Social Security.

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Accordingly, 20 CFR part 404 is corrected by making the following 
correcting amendment:

PART 404--FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE 
(1950- )

Subpart P--[Amended]

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1. The authority citation for subpart P of part 404 continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 202, 205(a), (b), and (d)-(h), 216(i), 221(a) 
and (i), 222(c), 223, 225, and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 402, 405(a), (b), and (d)-(h), 416(i), 421(a) and (i), 
422(c), 423, 425, and 902(a)(5)); sec. 211(b), Pub. L. 104-193, 110 
Stat. 2105, 2189.


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2. Amend Sec.  404.1526 by revising paragraphs (c) and (d) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  404.1526  Medical Equivalence

* * * * *
    (c) What evidence do we consider when we determine if your 
impairment(s) medically equals a listing? When we determine if your 
impairment medically equals a listing, we consider all evidence in your 
case record about your impairment(s) and its effects on you that is 
relevant to this finding. We do not consider your vocational factors of 
age, education, and work experience (see, for example,

[[Page 57416]]

Sec.  404.1560(c)(1)). We also consider the opinion given by one or 
more medical or psychological consultants designated by the 
Commissioner. (See Sec.  404.1616.)
    (d) Who is a designated medical or psychological consultant? A 
medical or psychological consultant designated by the Commissioner 
includes any medical or psychological consultant employed or engaged to 
make medical judgments by the Social Security Administration, the 
Railroad Retirement Board, or a State agency authorized to make 
disability determinations, and includes a medical or psychological 
expert (as defined in Sec.  405.5 of this chapter) in claims 
adjudicated under the procedures in part 405 of this chapter. A medical 
consultant must be an acceptable medical source identified in Sec.  
404.1513(a)(1) or (a)(3) through (a)(5). A psychological consultant 
used in cases where there is evidence of a mental impairment must be a 
qualified psychologist. (See Sec.  404.1616 for limitations on what 
medical consultants who are not physicians can evaluate and the 
qualifications we consider necessary for a psychologist to be a 
consultant.)
* * * * *

Gregory Zwitch,
Social Security Regulations Officer.
 [FR Doc. E6-16074 Filed 9-28-06; 8:45 am]
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