[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84431-84435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24391]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
[Docket No: SSA-2024-0040]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request
The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice
includes two new collections for OMB approval, as well as revisions of
OMB-approved information collections.
SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following
addresses or fax numbers.
(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA
(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance
Director, Mail Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD
21235, Fax: 833-410-1631, Email address: [email protected]
Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain by clicking on Currently under
Review--Open for Public Comments and choosing to click on one of SSA's
published items. Please reference Docket ID Number [SSA-2024-0040] in
your submitted response.
SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for
clearance. Your comments regarding these information collections would
be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of
this publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive
them no later than November 21, 2024. Individuals can obtain copies of
these OMB clearance packages by writing to the
[email protected].
1. New Applicant Survey (NAS)--0960-NEW. Background: The Social
Security Administration (SSA) provides income assistance to more than
13 million working-age adults and children with disabilities through
the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) programs. To evaluate these respondents as they
navigate SSA's application process, we are implementing the New
Applicant Survey (NAS). The objective of the New Applicant Survey (NAS)
is to provide SSA's Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment
Support (ORDES) with information about recent applicants' experience at
different stages or touchpoints in the disability application process.
SSA will use findings from the survey to inform testable policy
interventions to improve the application experience for applicant.
NAS Description: The primary goal of NAS is to help SSA improve our
current application process through the use of feedback from the public
who use it. The research questions and survey will allow SSA to
evaluate current practices and improve upon them. Ultimately, we expect
the purpose of this survey will help SSA to implement a better overall
application experience for respondents, as they use SSA's systems.
[[Page 84432]]
To provide information to SSA regarding applicants' experiences at
the different touchpoints in the disability application process, SSA's
evaluation will include the following analysis components:
Comparison of Characteristics: Comparing characteristics
of non-respondents (or the total sample) to those of respondents using
information available for both non-respondents and respondents.
Modeling: Modeling response propensity using multivariate
analyses, including observation and analysis of several outcome
variables.
Evaluation of Differences: Evaluating differences found in
comparisons between unadjusted (i.e., base-) weighted estimates of
selected sampling frame characteristics based on the survey respondents
and the corresponding population (frame) parameter.
Comparison of Estimates: Comparing weighted survey
estimates (e.g., selected error rates by type) using unadjusted (base)
weights versus nonresponse-adjusted weights.
We expect the NAS will help SSA answer the following research
questions:
What are the pre- and post-application employment
experiences of awarded and denied SSDI and SSI applicants?
What employment-, vocational-, medical-, or income-related
services and supports did applicants use leading up to and since
application?
What sources of information about SSDI or SSI did the
applicant use or have access to?
What were the applicants' experiences with representation
during the application or post-application periods?
SSA will conduct this survey with 10,000 respondents nationally.
SSA will provide a list of recent adult applicants who have applied for
Social Security disability benefits to the contractor to use for sample
selection. To ensure that sampled applicants have recent experiences
with the application process, we will restrict the target population to
those who have applied, appealed, or received a determination in the
six months prior to sampling. The sample will include individuals to
whom SSA awarded benefits (beneficiaries), those to whom SSA denied
benefits, as well as applicants who remain at different stages of the
application process.
For this survey, we will use the following methods for recruitment:
SSA Announcement
Email to Appointed Representative from Appointed
Representative Associations
Email to Appointed Representative (Directly)
First USPS Mailing to All Applicants, which will include a
small cash incentive of $2, a letter, and an information sheet
Second USPS Mailing to All Applicants
Third USPS Mailing to Nonrespondents
Fourth USPS Mailing to Nonrespondents
Fifth contact introducing the telephone modality.
As part of recruitment, we will also conduct experiments regarding
more cash incentives, invitations to complete the survey using multiple
modalities (internet, paper, telephone), as well as an early-bird
incentive.
The Survey Instrument: The survey asks questions that focus on the
applicant's experience with different aspects of the application
process. We will use it to collect data from 10,000 new applicants at
different touchpoints in the application process to understand
applicant experiences at each stage and obtain the information needed
to address the research questions.
To accommodate respondent preferences, we will create three
modalities of the survey instrument: internet-based, automated-
telephone, and paper. The internet and telephone versions will have
essentially the same design as these modalities, by using dynamic
pathing. This will facilitate the automatic skipping of questions based
on the respondents' earlier responses. We will include instructions and
formatting on the paper instrument which will also allow the
respondents to skip questions based on previous responses; however,
they will be able to see all of the questions (which is not the case on
the internet and telephone versions).
The survey questions will focus on the following applicant
experiences:
Touchpoints in the application process completed and
applicants' experience with the most recent touchpoints;
Use of appointed representatives;
Actions taken when applicants receive an unfavorable SSA
decision;
Use of and experience with SSA services;
Recommendations for improvements to the application
process;
Personal financial environment including use of assistance
programs;
Personal support system; and
Demographic information.
SSA will use the information we collect from this survey to
understand applicants' experiences at different stages in the
application process, as well as the types of SSA services applicants
accessed, and to evaluate changes to the application process that could
potentially improve applicants' experience.
We will encourage respondents to complete the survey via the
internet modality, but will not restrict them, or penalize respondents
who choose a different method (paper or telephone). We will require
informed consent for all participants.
Ultimately, we expect the survey will help SSA to implement a
better overall application experience for respondents, as they use
SSA's systems.
The respondents are current SSA beneficiaries who have undergone
the application process; individuals to whom SSA denied benefits;
applicants for Social Security services in various stages of the
application process, and their representatives (as applicable).
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
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Average
Average Estimated theoretical Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of burden per total annual hourly cost opportunity
respondents response response burden amount cost
(minutes) (hours) (dollars) * (dollars) **
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Internet Survey (including informed consent and 5,000 1 35 2,917 $7.25 $21,148
screener)..............................................
Paper Survey (including informed consent and screener).. 3,500 1 35 2,280 7.25 16,530
Telephone Survey (including informed consent and 1,500 1 40 1,000 7.25 7,250
screener)..............................................
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Totals.............................................. 10,000 .............. .............. 6,197 .............. 44,928
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* We base this figure on the Federal minimum wage of $7.25, as survey participants will have recently applied for SSA disability benefits and will
typically not have started receiving benefits yet (https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/minimumwage).
Note: Our contractor will schedule an appointment to call the recipient at their preferred date and time; therefore, the respondents will not incur an
average wait time.
[[Page 84433]]
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
2. Statutory Benefit Continuation Election Statement--20 CFR
404.1597a, and 416.996--0960-NEW. Sections 223(g) and 1631(a)(7) of the
Social Security Act (Act) provide that, when a disability Title II
beneficiary or Title XVI recipient requests an appeal of a Social
Security Administration's (SSA) determination stating that their
physical or mental impairment(s) ceased or is no longer disabling
during a continuing disability review (CDR), the individual has the
right to request disability benefits continue during their appeal. This
process, known as Statutory Benefit Continuation (SBC), follows
regulations set forth in 20 CFR 404.1597a(f) and 416.996(c-d) of the
Code of Federal Regulations (Code). Currently, when SSA determines an
individual's disability ceased or is no longer disabling, SSA sends the
individual a notice of benefit termination informing them within 10
days after receipt of the notice their disability benefits will end,
and they must submit in writing, or use Form SSA-795, Statement of
Claimant or Other Person (OMB No. 0960-0045), to complete a statement
to elect or decline continuation of benefits. However, Form SSA-795
does not specifically address SBC elections, which often leads to
incomplete submissions for those cases. For SBC cases, SSA's field
office staff frequently need to follow-up with individuals to clarify
their election or explain the available options. The SBC election is
effective until SSA makes the determination or decision at the
applicable appeal level. SSA requires the individual to make a separate
election at each level of appeal, through the hearing level before an
administrative law judge (ALJ). SBC is not available at the appeals
council (AC) or federal court levels; however, if the AC remands a case
back to the ALJ hearing level, and the individual did not previously
elect SBC, SSA grants the individual another opportunity to make an SBC
election at that time. If the individual elected SBC at a prior ALJ
hearing level, the field office (FO) automatically reinstates SBC after
the AC sends the case to the hearing office. The FO reinstates benefits
retroactive to the first month of non-payment resulting from the now
vacated prior ALJ decision. A claimant has two opportunities to elect
SBC during the appeal process: (1) the claimant can request SBC when
appealing at the reconsideration level and then again at the hearing
level, and (2) the claimant can request SBC at the hearing level only.
The following individuals are eligible for SCB: SSI recipients
whose benefits are based on disability or blindness; primary disability
insurance beneficiaries; auxiliaries receiving benefits on the record
of a primary disability beneficiary, disabled widow or widowers,
disabled adult children; mothers or fathers receiving benefits based on
having a disabled adult child in their care, and mothers or fathers
receiving benefits based on having in their care a child under age 18
but over age 15 who is disabled and receiving child's benefits.
SSA is requesting OMB approval of Form SSA-792, Statutory Benefit
Continuation Election Statement to standardize our collection of an
individual's benefit continuation election choice. Form SSA-792 will
allow the individual to elect from a variety of options available to
them for continued disability benefits and Medicare coverage. The
respondents are Title II and Title XVI disability beneficiaries and
recipients and Title II auxiliaries.
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
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Average
Average Estimated theoretical Average wait Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of burden per total annual hourly cost time in field opportunity
respondents response response burden amount office cost
(minutes) (hours) (dollars) * (minutes) ** (dollars) ***
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Reconsideration Appeal Level: Form SSA- 60,038 1 40 40,025 * $22.39 ** 24 *** $1,433,856
792....................................
Hearing Appeal Level: Form SSA-792...... 17,107 1 40 11,405 * 22.39 ** 24 *** 408,573
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Totals.............................. 77,145 .............. .............. 51,430 .............. .............. *** 1,842,429
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* We based this figure on the average of both DI payments based on SSA's current FY 2024 data (https://mwww.ba.ssa.gov/legislation/2024FactSheet.pdf),
and U.S. worker's hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).
** We based this figure on averaging the average FY 2024 wait times for field offices, based on SSA's current management information data.
*** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
3. Disability Report-Appeal--20 CFR 404.1512, 416.912, 404.916(c),
416.1416(c), 422.140, 404.1713, 416.1513, 404.1740(b)(4),
416.1540(b)(4), and 405 Subpart C--0960-0144. SSA requires disability
applicants who wish to appeal an unfavorable determination to complete
Form SSA-3441-BK; the associated Electronic Disability Collect System
(EDCS) interview; or the internet application, i3441. This allows
claimants to disclose any changes to their disability, or resources,
which might influence SSA's unfavorable determination. SSA may use the
information to: (1) reconsider and review an initial disability
determination; (2) review a continuing disability; and (3) evaluate a
request for a hearing. This information assists the State Disability
Determination Services (DDS) and ALJ in preparing for the appeals and
hearings, and in issuing a determination or decision on an individual's
entitlement (initial or continuing) to disability benefits. In
addition, the information we collect on the SSA-3441-BK, or related
modalities, facilitates SSA's collection of medical information to
support the applicant's request for reconsideration; request for
benefits cessation appeal; and request for a hearing before an ALJ.
Respondents are individuals who appeal denial, reduction, or cessation
of Social Security disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) payments; individuals who wish to request a hearing before an
ALJ; or their representatives.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
[[Page 84434]]
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Average
Average Estimated theoretical Average wait Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of burden per total annual hourly cost time in field opportunity
respondents response response burden amount office cost
(minutes) (hours) (dollars) * (minutes) ** (dollars) ***
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SSA-3441-BK (Paper Form)................ 24,645 1 50 20,538 * $13.31 .............. *** $273,361
Electronic Disability Collect System 159,971 1 50 133,309 * 13.31 ** 24 *** 2,626,023
(EDCS)--Individuals....................
Electronic Disability Collect System 44,192 1 45 33,144 * 58.40 .............. *** 1,935,610
(EDCS)--Representatives................
i3441 (Internet Application)-- 696,896 1 33 383,293 * 13.31 .............. *** 5,101,630
Individuals............................
i3441 (Internet Application)-- 583,031 1 28 272,081 * 58.40 .............. *** 15,889,530
Representatives........................
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Totals.............................. 1,508,735 .............. .............. 842,365 .............. .............. *** 25,826,154
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* We based these figures on average DI hourly wages for single students based on SSA's current FY 2024 data (https://mwww.ba.ssa.gov/legislation/2024FactSheet.pdf) and average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes231011.htm), as well as a combination of those two figures (for the paper form, as we do not collect data on whether the paper forms are filled out
by individuals or representatives or both).
** We based this figure on the average FY 2024 wait times for field offices, and the average teleservice wait time based on SSA's current management
information data.
*** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
4. Request for 800# Automated Telephone Services Knowledge-Based
Authentication (RISA-KBA)--20 CFR 401.45--0960-0596. The Request for
800# Automated Telephone Services Knowledge-Based Authentication is the
knowledge-based authentication method SSA uses to allow individuals
access to their personal information through our Automated Telephone
Services. SSA's system asks requestors using the automated telephone
services to provide additional identifying information unique to those
individuals so SSA can authenticate their identities before releasing
personal information. The system requests this unique identifying
information to authenticate both individuals and third parties who use
our automated telephone system to seek personal information from SSA
records, or to make changes to SSA records. The respondents are current
beneficiaries, or third parties who use the automated telephone system
to request personal information from SSA.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
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Average
Average burden Estimated theoretical Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of per response total annual hourly cost opportunity
respondents response (minutes) burden (hours) amount cost (dollars)
(dollars) * **
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Automated Telephone Requestors.................... 1,716,315 1 4 114,421 * $31.48 ** $3,601,973
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* We based these figures on average U.S. citizen's hourly salary, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes231011.htm)
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
5. Prohibition of Payment of SSI Benefits to Fugitive Felons and
Parole/Probation Violators--20 CFR 416.708(o)--0960-0617. Section
1611(e)(4) of the Act precludes eligibility for SSI payments for
certain fugitives and probation or parole violators. Our regulation at
20 CFR 416.708(o) requires individuals applying for, or receiving SSI
to report to SSA that: (1) they are fleeing to avoid prosecution for a
crime; (2) they are fleeing to avoid custody or confinement after
conviction of a crime; or (3) they are violating a condition of
probation or parole. SSA uses the information we receive to determine
eligibility on an initial claim for SSI payments or a redetermination
of existing recipients. The collection is mandatory to ensure that an
applicant or recipient does not have a warrant for one of the three
fleeing codes. If the respondent has a warrant for one of the three
fleeing codes, SSA uses this information to deny payments. The
respondents are SSI applicants and recipients, or their representative
payees, who are reporting their status as a fugitive felon or probation
or parole violator.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
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Average
Average burden Estimated theoretical Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of per response total annual hourly cost opportunity
respondents response (minutes) burden (hours) amount cost (dollars)
(dollars) * **
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Fugitive Felon and Parole or Probation Violation 1,000 1 1 17 $31.48* $535**
screens within the SSI Claims System.............
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* We based this figure on average U.S. worker's hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000).
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
6. Testimony by Employees and the Production of Records and
Information in Legal Proceedings--20 CFR 403.100-403.155--0960-0619.
Regulations at 20 CFR 403.100-403.155 of the Code establish SSA's
policies and procedures
[[Page 84435]]
for an individual; organization; or government entity to request
official agency information, records, or testimony of an agency
employee in a legal proceeding when the agency is not a party. The
request, which respondents submit in writing to SSA, must: (1) fully
set out the nature and relevance of the sought testimony; (2) explain
why the information is not available by other means; (3) explain why it
is in SSA's interest to provide the testimony; and (4) provide the
date, time, and place for the testimony. Respondents are individuals or
entities who request testimony from SSA employees in connection with a
legal proceeding.
Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information
collection.
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Average
Average burden Estimated theoretical Total annual
Modality of completion Number of Frequency of per response total annual hourly cost opportunity cost
respondents response (minutes) burden (hours) amount (dollars) (dollars) **
*
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20 CFR 403.100-403.155...................... 50 1 60 50 * $31.48 ** $1,574
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* We based this figure on the average U.S. worker's mean hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000).
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
respondents to complete the application.
Dated October 17, 2024.
Tasha Harley,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-24391 Filed 10-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P