Federal old-age, survivors and disability insurance computation of benefits under totalization agreements--SSA. Notice of proposed rulemaking

Section 233 of the Social Security Act (the Act) authorizes the President of the United States to enter into Social Security agreements with foreign countries which permit the establishment of entitlement to benefits under title II of the Act by combining periods of coverage under the United States (U.S.) system and the system of the foreign country with which the U.S. has such an agreement. This process is called "totalization." We have gained a considerable amount of experience under the rules (Section 404.1918) for computing a totalization benefit while implementing the three agreements now in effect. That experience has shown that those rules are difficult to administer and that they can cause some undesirable results for benefit applicants. The rules also make it difficult to negotiate and implement additional agreements. In order to avoid administrative problems and other undesirable results we are proposing a new U.S. totalization benefit computation method which uses neither foreign earnings nor foreign coverage.