Extension of the expiration date for several body system listings. Final rule

We use the Listing of Impairments (the listings) at the third step of the sequential evaluation process when we evaluate your claim for benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). This final rule extends until July 3, 2006, the date on which listings for four body systems will no longer be effective and extends until July 2, 2007, the date on which the listings for eight body systems will no longer be effective. Other than extending the date during which the listings will be effective, we have made no revisions to the listings; they remain the same as they now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. This extension will ensure that we continue to have the medical evaluation criteria in the listings to adjudicate disability claims in these body systems at step three of the sequential evaluation process.     

Extension of the expiration data for several body system listings. Final rule

We use the Listing of Impairments (the listings) at the third step of the sequential evaluation process when we evaluate your claim for benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). This final rule extends until July 1, 2008, the date on which the listings for eight body systems will no longer be effective. Other than extending the effective date of the listings, we have made no revisions to the listings; they remain the same as they now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. This extension will ensure that we continue to have the medical evaluation criteria in the listings to adjudicate disability claims involving these body systems at the third step of the sequential evaluation process.     

Extension of expiration date for the respiratory body system listings. Social Security Administration (SSA). Final rule

We adjudicate claims at the third step of our sequential evaluation process for evaluating disability using the Listing of Impairments (the Listings) under the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. This final rule extends until July 2, 2002, the date on which the respiratory body system listings will no longer be effective. We have made no revisions to the medical criteria in these listings; they remain the same as they now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. This extension will ensure that we continue to have medical evaluation criteria in the listings to adjudicate claims for disability based on impairments in the respiratory body system at step three of our sequential evaluation process.     

Federal old-age, survivors and disability insurance; determining disability and blindness; extension of expiration dates for several body system listings. Social Security Administration (SSA). Final rule

SSA adjudicates claims at the third step of its sequential evaluation process for evaluating disability using the Listing of Impairments (the Listings) under the Social Security and supplemental security income (SSI) programs. This final rule extends the dates on which several body system listings will no longer be effective. We have made no revisions to the medical criteria in these listings; they remain the same as they now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. These extensions will ensure that we continue to have medical evaluation criteria in these listings to adjudicate claims for disability based on impairments in these body systems at step three of our sequential evaluation process.     

Technical revisions to medical criteria for determinations of disability. Final rules

These final rules make a number of technical revisions to the Listing of Impairments (the listings). We use the listings when you claim benefits based on disability under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). We are making these revisions to reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment and terminology, to clarify certain criteria in the listings, to remove listings that we rarely use, and to add new listings consistent with current medical practice. We are making these individual technical revisions in order to improve our medical listings and make them easier to understand and use.     

Revised medical criteria for determination of disability, endocrine system and related criteria. Social Security Administration (SSA). Final rule

We are deleting listing 9.09, "Obesity," from appendix 1, subpart P of part 404, the "Listing of Impairments" (the listings). Although many individuals with obesity are appropriately found "disabled" within the meaning of the Social Security Act (the Act), we have determined that the criteria in listing 9.09 were not appropriate indicators of listing-level severity because they did not represent a degree of functional limitation that would prevent an individual from engaging in any gainful activity. However, in response to public comments, we are adding guidance about evaluating claims for benefits involving obesity to the prefaces of the musculoskeletal, respiratory, and cardiovascular body system listings.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating impairments that affect multiple body systems. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving impairments that affect multiple body systems. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect current medical knowledge, methods of evaluating impairments that affect multiple body systems, treatment, and our adjudicative experience.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating digestive disorders. Final rule

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving digestive disorders. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, methods of evaluating digestive disorders, treatment, and our program experience. We are also removing listings that are redundant because they only refer to other listings, and we are making other conforming changes.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating mental disorders and traumatic brain injury. Social Security Administration. Final rules

These rules revise our regulations for evaluating mental impairments. They also change some of the provisions of our Listing of Impairments (the Listings) that we use to evaluate mental disorders in adults. We also are adding guidance to the adult neurological listings regarding the evaluation of traumatic brain injury. In addition, the rules make technical changes to the adult digestive listings and the childhood mental disorders listings. We expect that these rules will clarify the intent and purpose of the listings for evaluating mental disorders, and will simplify our adjudication of claims involving mental impairments. These rules also recognize the sometimes unpredictable course of traumatic brain injury, and will improve our adjudication of claims involving traumatic brain injuries.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II or title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revision provides that we will find you disabled if you have medical evidence showing that you have ALS. Because of this change, we are also adding guidance about ALS to our listings. We are also adding ALS to the list of specific impairment categories in our regulation that provides for presumptive disability payments under title XVI.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating cardiovascular impairments. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving cardiovascular impairments. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating cardiovascular impairments.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating genitourinary impairments. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving genitourinary impairments. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating genitourinary impairments.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating skin disorders. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving skin disorders. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating skin disorders.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating malignant neoplastic diseases. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving malignant neoplastic diseases. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating malignant neoplastic diseases.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating visual disorders. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving visual disorders. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect our program experience and advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating visual disorders.     

Addition of medical criteria for evaluating Down syndrome in adults. Social Security Administration (SSA). Final rule

We are adding a new listing to evaluate non-mosaic Down syndrome in adults. Our current regulations only include a listing for evaluating Down syndrome in children; we evaluate claims filed by adults with Down syndrome under other listings. We are establishing a separate adult listing for this disorder to acknowledge its lifelong impact and severity. We expect that these final rules will simplify and expedite our adjudication of claims filed by adults with non-mosaic Down syndrome.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating immune system disorders. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving immune system disorders. We apply these criteria when you claim benefits based on disability under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, as well as advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating immune system disorders.     

Revised medical criteria for evaluating endocrine disorders. Final rules

We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act) involving endocrine disorders in adults and children. The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, information from medical experts, and comments we received from the public in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), and at an outreach policy conference.     

Evidentiary requirements for making findings about medical equivalence. Final rules

We are revising our regulations that pertain to the processing of claims for disability benefits under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act (the Act). These revisions make the language in the rules we use under title II of the Act for making findings about medical equivalence consistent with the language in the rules that we use under title XVI of the Act. These revisions also clarify our rules about the evidence we use when we make findings about medical equivalence for adults and children. We are also updating and clarifying our rules that explain the Listing of Impairments (the listings) and how your impairment(s) can meet a listing.     

The Psychological Consultative Examination for Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides for federal disability insurance for disabled workers and their families through the Social Security Disability Insurance program and the social safety net for low-income disabled individuals through the Supplemental Security Income program. For the Mental Disorders (12.0) listings in the SSA Blue Book, psychologists provide consultative examinations, a form of medicolegal consultation (Chafetz; The Clinical Neuropsychologist 24:1,045–1,063, 2010). Psychologists also provide consultation directly to the Administrative Law Judges for cases going on appeal, or they might work directly for a Disability Determinations Services facility as an examiner for cases with mental disorders. This article describes the role of the psychologist in the Psychological Consultative Examination and its medicolegal context. Problems with non-credible behavior, particularly malingering, must be accounted for by the psychologist, which ultimately can help SSA with the validity of its decisions.