[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 130 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32817-32818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16277]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Parts 404, 405, and 416

[Docket No. SSA-2007-0053]


Compassionate Allowances for Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and 
Related Dementias; Office of the Commissioner, Hearing

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Announcement of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: We are considering ways to quickly identify diseases and other 
serious medical conditions that obviously meet the definition of 
disability under the Social Security Act (Act) and can be identified 
with minimal objective medical information. We are calling this method 
``Compassionate Allowances.'' We will hold a hearing on July 29, 2009, 
to obtain information about possible methods of identifying adults with 
Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias and the 
advisability of implementing compassionate allowances for people with 
these diseases.

DATES: This hearing will be held on July 29, 2009, between 8:30 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT), in Chicago, IL. The hearing 
will be held at the Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, IL 
60611. While the public is welcome to attend the hearing, only invited 
witnesses will present testimony.
    You may also watch the proceedings live via Webcast beginning at 9 
a.m. CDT. You may access the Webcast line for the hearing on the Social 
Security Administration Web site at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionate_allowances/hearings0709.htm.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments about the compassionate 
allowances initiative with respect to adults with Early-Onset 
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, as well as topics covered at 
this hearing by (1) e-mail addressed to 
[email protected]; or (2) regular mail to Nancy 
Schoenberg, Acting Director, Office of Compassionate Allowances and 
Disability Outreach, ODP, ORDP, Social Security Administration, 4671 
Annex Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401. We 
welcome your comments, but we may not respond directly to comments sent 
in response to this notice of the hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: [email protected]. You 
may also mail inquiries about this meeting to Nancy Schoenberg at the 
above-mentioned address. 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 Social Security online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Under titles II and XVI of the Act, we pay benefits to claimants 
who meet our rules for entitlement and have medically determinable 
physical or mental impairments that are severe enough to meet the 
definition of disability in the Act. The rules for determining 
disability can be very complicated, but some claimants have such 
serious medical conditions that their conditions obviously meet our 
disability standards. To better address the needs of these claimants, 
we have implemented the Compassionate Allowance initiative to quickly 
identify diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify 
under our Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical 
information.

[[Page 32818]]

Will We Respond to Your Comments?

    We will carefully consider your comments, although we will not 
respond directly to comments sent in response to this notice or the 
hearing.

Additional Hearings

    We have held three hearings since December 2007. These hearings 
were on rare diseases, cancers, and traumatic brain injury and stroke. 
You may access the transcripts of the hearings at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances. We plan to hold 
additional hearings on other conditions and will announce those 
hearings later with notices in the Federal Register.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 96.001, Social 
Security--Disability Insurance; 96.006, Supplemental Security 
Income.)

    Dated: July 1, 2009.
Michael J. Astrue,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. E9-16277 Filed 7-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P