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Mar 13, 2024

Two Important Sets Of Final Regs


     The Social Security Administration has asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve two sets of proposed regulations.

     Here's a description of the first for which approval has been requested:

We propose to update our regulations to reflect that we may authorize direct payment of representative fees to an entity itself, not only to representatives working for an entity, as required by the decision of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Marasco & Nesselbush v. SSA. In accordance with the Marasco ruling, we propose a process for paying an entity directly, which involves requiring registration for all entities who wish to receive direct payment of assigned fees. We also propose several measures to standardize registration, appointment, and payment processes for all representatives who wish to be appointed on a claim, matter, or issue with us. These proposed changes will enable us to pay fees directly to entities in a timely and efficient manner. In addition to helping us implement the Marasco decision, these provisions will increase appointed representatives’ access to our electronic services, reduce delays, and thus improve program efficiencies for all representatives.

    Here's a description of the second set of proposed regulations for which approval has been requested:

We propose to develop intermediate improvements to reduce the burden in our current disability adjudication process as a step towards longer-term reforms to ensure our disability program remains current and supports equitable outcomes. Actions could include decreasing the years of past work we consider when making a disability determination, as well as other potential regulatory changes.

The development of this regulation was informed by a listening session conducted by our Office of Communications with advocacy groups representing claimants and beneficiaries.

5 comments:

  1. SSA has already published the proposed rules for both of these proposals. The agency is now asking OMB to approve the final rules, which means the rules could be published by the summer if OMB follows the 90 day review period it’s supposed to follow.

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  2. I believe these have already been published as proposed and undergone the comment period. Is there a second notice and comment period?

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  3. Well, they're trying. That's a good thing. Lets see if SSA can do that all on the budget they receive.

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  4. I don’t understand why you would say it won’t fly if Trump is president. Do you really think anything like this would cross the desk of any president? They have more important things to worry about.

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  5. @8:42

    I think it is a safe presumption that if Trump is elected, he would kick out O'Malley and any replacement would either be actively against the changes, or else would simply let the proposals whither due to inaction.

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