Regs Approved By OMB

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the following proposed regulations for Social Security:

1. We are revising our rules to remove Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea (now Cambodia) from the list of countries to which social security benefits may not be sent under restrictions imposed by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Removing these restrictions allows social security benefits to accrue for aliens entitled to benefits for months in which they reside in either Vietnam or Cambodia, provided they are not subject to other nonpayment provisions. The revisions are necessary to reflect published Treasury regulations that have removed the restrictions on sending Federal payments to individuals living in these countries.
2. We plan to revise our rules regarding payment of representative fees to allow representatives, in certain cases, to charge and receive a fee for their services from certain third parties without requiring our approval. We also plan to eliminate the requirement that we approve fees for legal guardians or court-appointed representatives providing representational services in claims before us if a court has already authorized their fees. Lastly, we plan to define "legal guardians or court-appointed representatives."

You should expect to see these items in the Federal Register in the near future.