[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 63965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26803]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2018-0065]


Modifications to the Disability Determination Procedures; End of 
the Single Decisionmaker Test and Extension of the Prototype Test

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are announcing the end of the ``single decisionmaker'' 
test, consistent with our notice in the Federal Register in 2016, in 
which we said that we would end the test by December 28, 2018. This 
notice also extends the separate ``prototype'' test until its cessation 
in June 2020.

DATES: This notice is applicable on December 12, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William P. Gibson, Office of 
Legislation and Congressional Affairs, Social Security Administration, 
6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, (410) 966-9039, 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: Our current rules authorize us to test, 
individually or in any combination, certain modifications to the 
disability determination procedures. 20 CFR 404.906 and 416.1406. We 
conducted several tests under the authority of these rules. In the 
``single decisionmaker'' test, a disability examiner may make the 
initial disability determination in most cases without obtaining the 
signature of a medical or psychological consultant. Under section 832 
of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA),\1\ we are required to end 
the single decisionmaker test. On August 25, 2016, we announced that we 
would conclude use of the single decisionmaker test by December 28, 
2018. 81 FR 58544.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Public Law 114-74, 129 Stat. 584, 613.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We ended the single decisionmaker test on October 1, 2018, in the 
19 States and the territory of Guam that used this test. There were 
nine States and the territory of Guam that used single decisionmaker as 
a stand-alone test. The remaining 10 States used single decisionmaker 
as part of a separate test that we refer to as the ``disability 
prototype.'' 64 FR 47218.
    One feature of the prototype test eliminates the reconsideration 
level of our administrative review process. We are continuing to make 
decisions in these 10 States by maintaining the elimination of the 
reconsideration level, but as noted above, as of October 1, 2018, 
consistent with section 832 of the BBA, we have been making 
determinations by using medical consultants in those States with the 
prototype tests.
    We will begin phasing out the prototype test in January 2019 in the 
following five States: New Hampshire; New York; Louisiana; Colorado; 
and in the part of California \2\ where the prototype test is currently 
being conducted. This means that for the residents in these locations 
who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits or 
Supplemental Security Income, or both, and who receive an initial 
denial determination on or after January 1, 2019, the first step of the 
appeals process will be to request a reconsideration of that 
determination. If we deny an individual at the reconsideration step, 
they may then seek further review of their claim by requesting a 
hearing before an administrative law judge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ California only includes the Los Angeles North and Los 
Angeles West branches.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We will eliminate the prototype test in the remaining five States 
(Pennsylvania; Alabama; Michigan; Missouri; and Alaska) by June 26, 
2020, at which time the test will end. With the end of the prototype 
test, we will return to a national, unified disability process that 
affords all disability claimants the same appeal rights in all States.

Nancy A. Berryhill,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 2018-26803 Filed 12-11-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P