Sep 11, 2015

SSA Seeks Comments On Vocational Factors In Disability Determination

     The Social Security Administration is publishing an "advanced notice of proposed rulemaking" in the Federal Register on Monday asking for public input on how the agency should consider the vocational factors of age, education and work experience in determining disability. There's no proposal now. They're just asking for comments. Here's the agency's explanation of the comments it is seeking:
Specifically, given today’s work environment and advances in technology and medicine, we are seeking public input, research, and data about the following: 
1. Is the factor of age predictive in determining an individual’s ability to work or to adjust to other work? If it is predictive, what are the vocationally significant age milestones we should consider? If it is not predictive, what data support that assertion? 
2. When determining if age affects an individual’s ability to work or to adjust to other work, what other factor s or combination of factors should we consider? 
3. Does an individual’s education al level affect an individual’s ability to do work or to adjust to other work? If so, how? What data support the conclusion that an individual’s educational level does or does not affect an individual’s ability to do work or to adjust to other work? How does literacy affect an individual’s ability to do work or adjust to other work? 
4. Does the skill level of an individual’s past work affect his or her ability to adjust to other work? If so, how ? What data support the conclusion that the skill level of an individual’s past work does or does not affect an individual’s ability to do work or to adjust to other work? How does the skill level of an individual’s past work considered along with an indiv idual’s educational level affect this adjustment? 
5. Are there other vocational factors or combinations of vocational factors that we should consider when determining an individual’s ability to do work or to adjust to other work?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

get ready (although it's too little too late) for an upward adjustment of the age delineations in the "GRID" rules. Sorry, sedentary over 50 is no longer automatically disabled.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if SSA will join the movement of compassion for those with criminal records and add criminal history as a vocational factor it considers. Or if ability to travel to jobs is considered.

Anonymous said...

Hope they just change the regs concerning illiteracy and call it a day.

Anonymous said...

We should exempt work performed after age 55 that is not comparable or performed for significantly less wages than the work they did before turning age 55 as being considered relevant work they can return to. For example one of you highly paid lawyers or a brick mason who gets a job as a greeter at Walmart. If he has mental limitations in the one case or is limited to light work at age 57 we would not be able to deny saying you can still be a Walmart greeter

Anonymous said...

@9:26 PM: You should really drop that illusion of everyone can work at Walmart and be a door greeter. In case you haven't noticed, Walmart changed their job descriptions several years ago. Every employee is required to be able to go out in the parking lot, roundup shopping carts, and push them. That includes the door greeter.

Anonymous said...

Oh boy here we go .......


Why should the SSA care about the public's input on SSDI policy ?
The SSA is beholden to congress and only congress.

The same US Congress that is holding the SSDI and it's finances
hostage by a bunch of republitard goons.

They could very well get voted of office next year and nothing happens.

Another recession and economic collaspe.

They think they can throw people off of SSDI like ST. Ronald the retard tried to do in 1981 and the only thing it did for him was a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the SSDI clients because they were wrongly terminated from thier benefits and it only took 500 million dollars in back pay.


Ronald "retard" Reagan was just a mean hearted coot of a old man who took pleasure throwing mentally ill patients out of state mental homes in California.

They were not "heros" like he was fondly quoted for.



Don't expect any drastic in "SSDI reform ".


No sooner when the ink is dry on the reform proposal it
will land in court.

Anonymous said...

There's a lot of science out there on the mental and physical functional decline that occurs due to aging. That can be helpful input into the process. I doubt seriously that in the past 25 or 250 years time has ceased exerting the same influence it always has on human minds and bodies. Perhaps, for those with access to excellent care and who have exercised the right life choices (a very low percentage of the population unfortunately), it is more likely to be somewhat ameliorated.

Living longer does not mean functioning better once you reach a certain age. It's not logical to assume longer life expectancy equates to better functionality at age 50, 55, or so on. The skyrocketing need for home health and nursing home care illustrates that to a significant extent.

The other factor is that SSA desperately needs more effective shortcuts in the adjudication process like the grid rules and the listings. If congress won't adequately fund for staffing to reduce the backlog (which seems a given) then more categories like the grids and the listings need to be established to handle claims expeditiously.

Anonymous said...

Republicans always like to harm people it seems with they're ideas bite them in the ass right in the middle of the 2016 Elections they will lose a lot of seats I don't see them even see have these ideas passing Obamas desk he isn't out until 2017 and once the public finally gets wind of these ideas they are going to lose 2016

Anonymous said...

Isn't this why they have Mental Health Professionals.These guys are not out to reform they are out to cut these people need to be FIRED

Anonymous said...

5:12 and 8:12, unfortunately these congressmen probably will NOT be voted out of office. Congress is now so gerrymandered that only a few seats will be at risk for incumbents. There are enough Tea baggers in those districts with the average voter being apathetic and illiterate newswise, so most of these incumbents will be returned to office. Congressmen no longer need to heed the will of their constituents--they reap huge sums from Wall Street and the 1% so they can dominate the media and hookwink most voters.

Anonymous said...

Another Baby Boomer attack on the rest of us because they wanted cheap taxes. How dare they! Boomers are the ruin of the nation. Soylent Green!!!!