FR Doc 03-26951

[Federal Register: October 27, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 207)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 61162-61171]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27oc03-23]

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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Parts 404 and 416

[Regulations No. 4 and 16]
RIN 0960-AF21

Reinstatement of Entitlement to Disability Benefits

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration is proposing rules
regarding the Reinstatement of Entitlement (Expedited Reinstatement)
provision in section 112 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives
Improvement Act of 1999. This provision allows former Social Security
disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability or
blindness beneficiaries, whose entitlement or eligibility had been
terminated due to their work activity, to have their entitlement or
eligibility reinstated in a timely fashion if they become unable to do
substantial gainful work due to their medical condition. These rules
provide beneficiaries an additional incentive to return to work.

DATES: To be sure your comments are considered we must receive them no
later than December 26, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may give us your comments by using: our Internet site
facility (i.e., Social Security Online) at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/
; by e-mail to
regulations@socialsecurity.gov; by telefax to (410) 966-2830; or by letter to the Commissioner of Social Security, P.O. Box 17703,
Baltimore, MD 21235-7703. You may also deliver them to the Office of
Regulations, Social Security Administration, 100 Altmeyer Building,
6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m. on regular business days. Comments are posted on our Internet
site, Social Security Online at socialsecurity.gov for your review, or
you may inspect them on regular business days by making arrangements
with the contact person shown in this preamble.
Electronic version: The electronic file of this document is
available on the date of publication in the Federal Register at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html.
It is also available on
the Internet site for SSA (i.e., Social Security Online):
socialsecurity.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Nelson, Team Leader, Employment
Policy Team, Office of Employment Support Programs, Social Security
Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Room 107 Altmeyer Building,
Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, (410) 966-5114 or TTY 410-966-5609. For
information on eligibility or filing for benefits: Call our national
toll-free number, 1-(800) 772-1213 or TTY 1-(800) 325-0778, or visit
our Internet Web site, Social Security Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/
.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The expedited reinstatement provision, along with other work
incentives and the Ticket to Work program contained in the Ticket to
Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-170)
is intended to expand your options as a Social Security disability
beneficiary or a disabled or blind Supplementary Security Income
recipient. We expect that the expedited reinstatement provision along
with other provisions in the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives
Improvement Act of 1999 will remove some of the disincentives that may
discourage you from either attempting to work or increasing your work
activity. If more beneficiaries with disabilities engage in self-
supporting work, the net result will be a reduction in the Social
Security and Supplemental Security Income disability rolls and savings
to the Social Security Trust Fund and general revenues.

General Goals of the Expedited Reinstatement Provision

The expedited reinstatement provision is intended to relieve some
concerns you may have about returning to work. If we terminate your
entitlement or eligibility for benefits due to your work activity, this
provision provides you an easier way to have your entitlement or
eligibility reinstated and to be placed back into payment status. This
process should ease some concerns you may have about what will happen
if your attempt to return to work is unsuccessful.

Advice of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel

During the preparation of these proposed rules, we consulted with
the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel.

Section 112 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
of 1999

Congress indicated that the purpose of section 112 of the Ticket to
Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (the expedited
reinstatement provision) was to encourage disability beneficiaries to
return to work by reassuring them that benefits would be restored in a
timely fashion should they become unable to continue working and
continue to meet disability standards set by SSA.
Section 112 of Public Law 106-170 amended Sec. Sec. 223 and 1631
of the Social Security Act (the Act). Section 112(a) added subsection
(i) to Sec. 223 of the Act and re-designated the prior subsection

[[Page 61163]]

(i) as subsection (j). Section 112(b)(1) added paragraph (p) to Sec.
1631 of the Act. The expedited reinstatement provision provides a
method for you to have your disability benefits reinstated without
filing an application if you have had your entitlement to, or
eligibility for, benefits terminated due to your work activity during
the previous 5 years, and you can no longer do substantial gainful
activity.

Effect of the Expedited Reinstatement Provision

The expedited reinstatement provision provides you another option
for regaining entitlement to benefits under title II and eligibility
under title XVI of the Act after we have terminated your entitlement to
or eligibility for disability benefits due to your work activity. If
you file a request for expedited reinstatement you can still file a new
application for benefits under existing initial claim rules.
Prior to the effective date of this provision, when we terminated
your entitlement or eligibility due to work activity, you were required
to file a new application to become entitled to or eligible for
benefits again. We processed your application under rules that required
a new disability determination using our initial claim medical
requirements. You generally were entitled to receive benefits only
after we processed your entitlement or eligibility determination. If we
determined that you again qualified for benefits, you became eligible
for work incentives such as the trial work period, the reentitlement
period, and special SSI eligibility status under your new period of
disability.
The expedited reinstatement provision provides you the option of
requesting that your prior entitlement to or eligibility for disability
benefits be reinstated, rather than filing a new application for a new
period of entitlement or eligibility. Since January 1, 2001, you can
request to be reinstated to benefits if you stop doing substantial
gainful activity within 60 months of your prior termination. You must
have stopped doing substantial gainful activity because of your medical
condition. Your current impairment must be the same as or related to
your prior impairment and you must be disabled. To determine if you are
disabled, we will use our medical improvement review standard (MIRS)
that we use in our continuing disability review process. The advantage
of using MIRS is that we will generally find that you are disabled
unless your impairment has improved so that you are able to work or
unless an exception under the MIRS process applies.
When you request reinstatement you can be paid up to 6 months of
provisional benefits, and may be entitled to Medicare benefits and/or
Medicaid, while we are deciding whether you qualify for reinstatement.
Provisional benefits, or payments, are cash benefits that can be paid
to you on a temporary basis when you were previously a Social Security
(title II) disability beneficiary or a disabled or blind Supplemental
Security Income (title XVI) recipient and you are now requesting
reinstatement. The period during which you can receive provisional
benefits is your provisional benefit period. This period begins with
the first month you can receive provisional benefits and can never
extend beyond six consecutive months. Your provisional benefit period
will end earlier than the sixth consecutive month if we make our
determination on your request for reinstatement before that month. Your
title II provisional benefit period will also end if you attain
retirement age or if you do substantial gainful work activity.
You can receive title II provisional benefits beginning with the
month you file your request for reinstatement. We will base your
provisional benefit amount, the amount of the monthly cash benefit you
receive during the provisional benefit period, on the prior benefit
amount that was actually payable to you under title II. We will
terminate your title II provisional benefits when your provisional
benefit period ends, such as if you do substantial gainful activity.
You can receive title XVI provisional payments beginning with the month
after you file your request for reinstatement. We will base your title
XVI provisional benefit amount, the amount of the monthly cash payment
you receive during the provisional benefit period, on the federal
Supplemental Security Income benefit that is actually payable to you,
depending on your income. We will terminate your title XVI provisional
payments when your provisional benefit period ends.
We are proposing to amend Sec. Sec. 404.903 and 416.1403 to
indicate that a determination we make regarding your right to receive
provisional benefits is not an initial determination and it is,
therefore, not subject to administrative review under Sec. Sec.
404.900ff and 416.1400ff.
If we deny your request for reinstatement, we generally will not
consider the provisional benefits you received as an overpayment. If
your reinstatement request is denied, we will treat that request as
your intent to file an initial application for benefits. If your
request for reinstatement is approved, we will reinstate your prior
disability entitlement or eligibility and reestablish your Medicare/
Medicaid entitlement, as appropriate, if you are not already entitled
to Medicare/Medicaid. We will pay you reinstated benefits under title
XVI beginning with the month after the month you filed your request. We
will pay you reinstated benefits for title II beginning no later than
the month you filed your request. We can pay you title II reinstated
benefits for any of the 12 months preceding your request for
reinstatement if you would have met all of the requirements for
reinstatement if your request for reinstatement had been timely filed
for the claimed month. We will reduce reinstated benefits payable for a
month by the amount of any provisional benefits already received for
that month.
When we reinstate your entitlement under this provision you are
then entitled to a 24-month initial reinstatement period. Your 24-month
initial reinstatement period begins with the month your benefits are
reinstated and ends with the 24th month that you have a benefit
payable. For title II purposes, we consider a benefit to be payable in
a month when you do not do substantial gainful activity and the non-
payment provisions in Sec. 404.401ff do not apply. For title XVI
purposes, we consider a benefit to be payable in a month when, using
normal payment calculation procedures in Sec. 416.101ff, we determine
you are due a monthly payment. After the 24-month initial reinstatement
period is completed you are eligible for additional work incentives
under title II (such as a trial work period and a reentitlement
period), as well as possible future reinstatement through the expedited
reinstatement provision under title II and title XVI.

Proposed Regulations

We are proposing to amend our rules to provide the rules for
expedited reinstatement. These proposed rules add Sec. Sec. 404.1592b
through 404.1592g to part 404 and Sec. Sec. 416.999 through 416.999e
to part 416.

Part 404

Proposed Sec. 404.1592b provides a general overview of expedited
reinstatement and summarizes the basic requirements for expedited
reinstatement, as discussed in Sec. Sec. 404.1592c through 404.1592g.
Proposed Sec. 404.1592c describes the requirements for
reinstatement to title II

[[Page 61164]]

benefits. Section 223(i)(1) of the Act lists the requirements you must
meet to be reinstated through the authority of the title II expedited
reinstatement provision. These proposed rules explain that you must
have previously been entitled as a disabled insured individual, a
disabled child, a disabled widow or widower, or a disabled Medicare
qualified government employee. We must have terminated your prior
entitlement due to your doing substantial gainful activity. You must
have become unable to continue doing substantial gainful activity due
to your medical condition. Your current impairment must be the same as
or related to the impairment on which we based your prior period of
disability, and you must currently be disabled. Section 223(i)(3) of
the Act requires us to use the medical improvement review standard in
Section 223(f) of the Act when we determine if you are disabled for the
purposes of this provision. We are proposing that we will not reinstate
your entitlement under the expedited reinstatement provision if you
previously requested expedited reinstatement, or we conducted a
continuing disability review on a title II disability or Medicare
entitlement, and we determined you were not disabled under the medical
improvement review standard. We will also not reinstate your
entitlement under this provision if you previously requested expedited
reinstatement for a benefit and we determined you did not have a
current impairment(s) that was the same as or related to the impairment
that was the basis for your prior entitlement to that benefit. If you
are reinstated, an auxiliary beneficiary who was previously entitled on
your record can also be reinstated. The auxiliary beneficiary must
apply for reinstatement and must meet the current entitlement factors
for the benefit.
Proposed Sec. 404.1592d describes what you must do to request
reinstatement of benefits under the expedited reinstatement provision.
Your request must be made in writing. Section 223(i)(2)(A) of the Act
lists what you must include in your request for reinstatement and
authorizes us to determine the form of the request and the information
it must contain. You must file your request within the consecutive 60-
month period that begins with the month that your prior entitlement to
disability benefits terminated due to the performance of substantial
gainful activity. However, we may extend this time period if we
determine that you had good cause for failing to file your request
within the 60-month time period. Your request must state that you are
disabled, that your current impairment is the same as or related to the
impairment that was used as the basis for your prior disability
entitlement, and that you cannot do substantial gainful activity
because of your medical condition. The request must also include the
information we need to help us determine whether you meet the non-
medical factors of entitlement and the information we need to make the
medical determination. Your request for reinstatement must be filed on
or after January 1, 2001.
Proposed Sec. 404.1592e describes how we will determine whether
you are unable to do substantial gainful activity because of your
medical condition. We are proposing that you must meet one of two
requirements. The first requirement is that you are unable to continue
working, or you reduce your work and earnings below the substantial
gainful activity level, because of your impairment. The second
requirement is that you were forced to stop work due to the removal of
special circumstances that had permitted you to work despite your
impairment. Under our proposed rules if you stop work for reasons
beyond your control, such as your employer having terminated you due to
a general downsizing, and there were special circumstances that allowed
you to work at that job despite your impairment, we will consider you
to meet this requirement. For the purposes of this section we consider
special circumstances to be those in which you have special conditions,
subsidy, or have some other special need that must be met in order for
you to be able to work despite your impairment, such as the
availability of special transportation.
Proposed Sec. 404.1592f provides information on when your title II
provisional benefits start, how they are computed, when they are paid,
and when they end. Section 223(i)(7) of the Act lists the requirements
for us to pay provisional benefits while we are determining whether to
approve your request for reinstatement. Consistent with the law, the
proposed rules explain that we can pay you up to 6 months of
provisional benefits during your provisional benefit period. In
addition, if you are not already entitled to Medicare, we can
reestablish your Medicare entitlement during your provisional benefit
period. Your entitlement to provisional benefits begins with the month
your reinstatement request is filed. We will base your provisional
benefit amount on your monthly insurance benefit that was actually
payable to you at the time we terminated your prior entitlement. We
will increase your prior benefit amount payable by any intervening cost
of living increases that would have been applicable to the prior
benefit amount under section 215(i) of the Act. If you are entitled to
another title II benefit or another provisional benefit, the maximum
benefit amount we will pay you when all benefits are combined will be
the amount of your highest computed benefit. If you request
reinstatement as a disabled widow or widower or a disabled child we
will not adjust your provisional benefit or the benefits of other
beneficiaries entitled at that time on the same record when the total
benefit amount exceeds the family maximum.
We will not pay you a provisional benefit for a month if you are
not entitled to payment for the month under our usual rules, such as if
you are a prisoner. We also will not pay you provisional benefits for
any month that is after the earliest of the following months: the month
we send you notice of our determination on your request for
reinstatement; the first month you do substantial gainful activity; the
month before you attain retirement age; or the fifth month following
the month you filed your request for reinstatement. We will not pay
provisional benefits when, prior to starting your provisional benefits,
we determine that you do not meet the requirements for reinstatement,
such as, since your prior termination because of work activity we have
determined that you are not disabled under the medical improvement
review standard, or we determine that you did not file your request for
reinstatement timely, or your prior entitlement did not terminate
because of your doing substantial gainful activity. Our determinations
on provisional benefit amounts, when they are payable, and when they
terminate, are final and are not subject to formal administrative
review. We will not recover a previously existing overpayment from your
provisional payments unless you give us permission to do so. If we
determine you are not entitled to reinstated benefits, usually we will
not consider the provisional benefits you received as an overpayment
unless we determine you knew or should have known that you did not
qualify for reinstatement and therefore you should not have received
the provisional benefits.
Proposed Sec. 404.1592g discusses how we determine your reinstated
benefits consistent with the requirements regarding paying reinstated
benefits in section 223(i). The proposed rules explain that if we have
determined we can reinstate you in the month you filed

[[Page 61165]]

your reinstatement request, we will then consider whether we can pay
you retroactive reinstated benefits. We will reinstate your benefits
beginning with the earliest month in the 12-month period immediately
preceding the month you requested reinstatement in which you would have
met all of the reinstatement requirements if you had filed your request
for reinstatement in that month. We will also reinstate your Medicare
entitlement. Your entitlement to title II disability benefits and
Medicare, under the expedited reinstatement provision, cannot be
reinstated for a month prior to January 2001.
We will determine and pay your reinstated monthly benefits under
our normal payment provisions of title II of the Act, with some
exceptions. We will withhold from your reinstated benefits due for a
month the amount of any provisional payments we already paid for that
month. If the provisional benefits we paid you for a month exceed the
amount of reinstated benefits due you for that month, we will consider
the difference as an overpayment. We will use the same date of onset to
calculate your new primary insurance amount as a reinstated individual
that we used in your most recent period of disability. When you are
reinstated, you are entitled to a 24-month initial reinstatement
period. Your initial reinstatement period begins with the month your
reinstated benefits begin and ends when you have had 24 months of
payable benefits. We propose to consider a month a payable month when
you do not do substantial gainful activity and the non-payment
provisions in Sec. 404.401ff do not apply. During the initial
reinstatement period, in addition to normal non-payment events, a
benefit is not payable for any month in which you do substantial
gainful activity. We will not use our unsuccessful work attempt or
averaging of earnings provisions when we determine if you have done
substantial gainful activity in a month during your initial
reinstatement period. After you complete your initial reinstatement
period, we will consider your future work under the work incentive
provisions of title II of the Act. Your trial work period begins the
month after you complete your initial reinstatement period. Your
reinstated benefits end with the earliest month that precedes the third
month following the month in which we determine your disability ceases,
the month we terminate your benefits for another reason, the month you
reach retirement age, or the month you die.
We are proposing that determinations we make regarding your title
II reinstated benefits will be initial determinations subject to
administrative and judicial review. If we determine you are not
entitled to reinstated benefits, we will consider your request for
reinstatement as your intent to file a new initial claim for the
benefit.

Part 416

Proposed Sec. 416.999 provides a general overview of expedited
reinstatement and a summary of the basic requirements for expedited
reinstatement, as discussed in Sec. Sec. 416.999a through 416.999e.
Proposed Sec. 416.999a describes the requirements for
reinstatement to title XVI benefits. Section 1631(p)(1) of the Act
lists the requirements to be reinstated through the authority of the
expedited reinstatement provision. The proposed rules explain that you
must have previously been eligible based on disability or blindness. We
must have terminated your prior eligibility due to earned income or a
combination of earned and unearned income. You must have become unable
to do substantial gainful activity due to your medical condition. Your
current impairment must be the same as or related to the impairment on
which we based your prior eligibility. Also, you must currently be
disabled. Section 1631(p)(3) of the Act requires we use the medical
improvement review standard in section 1614(a)(4) of the Act when we
determine if you are disabled for the purposes of this provision. We
are proposing that we will not reinstate your eligibility under this
provision if you previously requested expedited reinstatement, or we
conducted a continuing disability review for title XVI eligibility, and
we determined you were not disabled under the medical improvement
review standard. We will also not reinstate your eligibility under this
provision if you previously requested expedited reinstatement of your
title XVI eligibility and we determined you did not have a current
impairment that was the same as or related to the impairment that was
the basis for your prior eligibility. When you are reinstated, your
spouse can be reinstated if your spouse was previously eligible, your
spouse meets the current eligibility factors for title XVI benefits,
and your spouse requests reinstatement.
Proposed Sec. 416.999b describes how to request reinstatement of
benefits under the expedited reinstatement provision. Your request must
be in writing. Section 1631(p)(2)(A) of the Act lists what you must
include in your request for reinstatement and authorizes us to
determine the form of the request and the information it must contain.
You must file your request within the consecutive 60-month period that
begins with the month that we terminated your prior eligibility to
title XVI disability benefits. However, we may extend this time period
if we determine that you had good cause for failing to file your
request within the 60-month period. Your request must include your
statement that you are disabled, that your current impairment is the
same as or related to the impairment that we used as the basis for your
prior disability eligibility, that you cannot do substantial gainful
activity because of your medical condition, and that you meet all of
the non-medical requirements for eligibility. Your request must also
include the information we need to determine whether you meet the non-
medical factors of eligibility for the benefit and the information we
need to make the medical determination. Your request for reinstatement
must be filed on or after January 1, 2001.
Proposed Sec. 416.999c describes how we will determine whether you
are unable to do substantial gainful activity because of your medical
condition. We are proposing that you must meet one of two requirements.
The first requirement is that you are unable to continue working, or
you reduced your work and earnings below the substantial gainful
activity level, because of your impairment. The second requirement is
that you were forced to stop work due to the removal of special
circumstances that had permitted you to work despite your impairment.
Under our proposed rules if you stop work for reasons beyond your
control, such as your employer having terminated you due to a general
downsizing, and there were special circumstances that allowed you to
work at that job despite your impairment, we will consider you to meet
this requirement. For the purposes of this section we consider special
circumstances to be those when you have been provided special
conditions or subsidy, or have some other special need that must be met
in order for you to be able to work despite your impairment, such as
the availability of special transportation.
Proposed Sec. 416.999d provides information on when your title XVI
provisional benefits start, how they are computed, when they are paid,
and when they end. Section 1631(p)(7) of the Act lists the requirements
for us to pay you provisional benefits while we are determining whether
to approve your request for reinstatement. Consistent with the law, the
proposed

[[Page 61166]]

rules explain that we can pay you up to six months of provisional
benefits during the provisional benefit period. Your provisional
benefits will begin with the month after you request reinstatement. We
will base your provisional benefit amount on normal computational
methods for an individual receiving SSI benefits under title XVI of the
Act with the same amounts and kind of income. If your spouse also
requests reinstatement, we can pay provisional payments to your spouse.
Your spouse must meet SSI eligibility requirements, except those
relating to the filing of an application, before we can pay provisional
payments. We will use the same computation method used for you and your
spouse's provisional benefit that we would use to figure an eligible
individual and eligible spouse receiving non-provisional benefits under
title XVI of the Act with the same kind and amount of income. As
required by section 1631(p)(8) of the Act, you are not eligible for
state supplementary payments during the provisional benefit period.
We will not pay provisional benefits for any month where a
suspension or terminating event occurs under our usual rules, such as
when you are in an institution or if you die. We also will not pay
provisional benefits for any month after the earliest month either of
the following events occur: the month we send you our notice of our
determination on your request for reinstatement or the sixth month
following the month you filed your request for reinstatement. We will
not pay provisional benefits when, prior to starting your provisional
benefits, we determine you do not meet the requirements for
reinstatement, such as, since your prior termination due to your earned
income we have determined that you are not disabled under the medical
improvement review standard, or we determine that you did not file your
request for reinstatement timely, or we determine that your prior
eligibility terminated for a reason unrelated to income. Our
determinations on your provisional benefit amounts, when they are
payable, and when they terminate, are final and are not subject to
formal administrative review. We will not recover previously existing
overpayments from your provisional payments unless you give us
permission to do so. If we determine that you are not eligible for
reinstated benefits, usually we will not consider the provisional
payments you received as an overpayment unless you knew or should have
known that you did not qualify for reinstatement and you should not
have received provisional payments.
Proposed Sec. 416.999e discusses how we determine your reinstated
SSI benefits consistent with the requirements in section 1631(p)(4).
The proposed rules explain that we will reinstate your eligibility, and
your spouse's eligibility, with the month following the month you filed
your request for reinstatement. Your eligibility cannot be reinstated
for a month prior to February 2001.
We will determine and pay your reinstated benefits under the normal
payment provisions of title XVI of the Act, with one exception. We will
withhold from your reinstated benefits due in a month the amount of any
provisional payments you were already paid for that month. If we pay
you a provisional benefit for a month that exceeds the amount of your
reinstated benefit due, we will consider the difference an overpayment.
When your request for reinstatement is approved, you are eligible for a
24-month initial reinstatement period. Your initial reinstatement
period begins with the month your reinstated benefits begin and ends
when you have had 24 months of payable benefits. We propose to consider
a month a payable month when, considering the normal payment rules, you
are due a benefit payment for the month. After you complete the initial
reinstatement period, you are again eligible for expedited
reinstatement if we terminate your eligibility due to income. Your
reinstated benefits end with the earliest month that precedes the third
month following the month in which we determine your disability ceases,
the month before we terminate your eligibility for another reason, or
the month you die.
We are proposing that we will consider determinations we make
regarding your title XVI reinstated benefits to be initial
determinations subject to administrative and judicial review. If we
determine you are not eligible for reinstated benefits we will consider
your request for reinstatement your intent to file a new initial claim
for benefits.

Regulatory Procedures

Clarity of These Proposed Rules

Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write all rules in
plain language. In addition to your substantive comments on these
proposed rules, we invite your comments on how to make these proposed
rules easier to understand. For example:
[sbull] Have we organized the material to suit your needs?
[sbull] Are the requirements in the rules clearly stated?
[sbull] Do the rules contain technical language or jargon that
isn't clear?
[sbull] Would a different format (grouping and order of sections,
use of headings, paragraphing) make the rules easier to understand?
[sbull] Would more (but shorter) sections be better?
[sbull] Could we improve clarity by adding tables, lists, or
diagrams?
[sbull] What else could we do to make the rules easier to
understand?

Executive Order 12866

We have consulted with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
and determined that these proposed rules meet the criteria for a
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, as amended
by Executive Order 13258. Thus, they were subject to OMB review.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

We certify that these proposed rules would not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because they
would primarily affect only individuals. Thus an initial regulatory
flexibility analysis as provided in the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as
amended, is not required.

Paperwork Reduction Act

These proposed rules contain reporting requirements as shown in the
following table.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average
Annual number burden per Estimated
Section of responses Frequency of response response total burden
(Mins.) (Hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
404.1592c & 404.1592d................. 10,000 One time................ 85 14,167
416.999a & 416.999b................... 100 One time................ 79 132
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[[Page 61167]]

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An Information Collection Request has been submitted to OMB for
clearance. We are soliciting comments on the burden estimate; the need
for the information; its practical utility; ways to enhance its
quality, utility and clarity; and on ways to minimize the burden on
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology. Comments should be submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget and to the Social Security
Administration at the following addresses/fax numbers: Office of
Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, Room 10235, New
Executive Office Bldg., 725 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20503, Fax
No. 202-395-6974. Social Security Administration, Attn: SSA Reports
Clearance Officer, 1338 Annex Building, 6401 Security Boulevard,
Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, Fax No. 410-965-6400.
Comments can be received between 30 and 60 days after publication
of this notice and will be most useful if received by SSA within 30
days of publication. To receive a copy of the OMB clearance package,
you may call the SSA Reports Clearance Officer on 410-965-0454.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 96.001, Social
Security--Disability Insurance; 96.002, Social Security--Retirement
Insurance; 96.004, Social Security--Survivors Insurance; 96.006,
Supplemental Security Income.)

List of Subjects

20 CFR Part 404

Administrative practice and procedure, Blind, Disability benefits,
Old-age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Social Security.

20 CFR Part 416

Administrative practice and procedure, Aged, Blind, Disability
benefits, Public assistance programs, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Dated: July 22, 2003.
Jo Anne B. Barnhart,
Commissioner of Social Security.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, we propose to amend part
404, subparts J and P, and part 416, subparts I and N of title 20 of
the Code of Federal Regulations to read as follows:

PART 404--FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVOR AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950-
)

Subpart J--[Amended]

1. The authority citation for subpart J is revised to read as
follows:

Authority: Secs. 201(j), 204(f), 205(a), (b), (d)-(h), and (j),
221, 223(i), 225, and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 401(j), 404(f), 405(a), (b), (d)-(h), and (j), 421, 423 (i),
425, and 902(a)(5)); 31 U.S.C. 3720A; sec. 5 Pub. L. 97-455, 96
Stat. 2500 (42 U.S.C. 405 note); secs. 5, 6(c)-(e), and 15, Pub. L.
98-460, 98 Stat. 1802 (42 U.S.C. 421 note).

2. Amend Sec. 404.903 to revise paragraphs (t) and (u) and add
paragraph (v) to read as follows:

Sec. 404.903 Administrative actions that are not initial
determinations.

* * * * *
(t) Determining whether we will refer information about your
overpayment to a consumer reporting agency (see Sec. 404.527 and Sec.
422.305 of this chapter);
(u) Determining whether we will refer your overpayment to the
Department of the Treasury for collection by offset against Federal
payments due you ( see Sec. Sec. 404.527 and 422.310 of this chapter);
and
(v) Determining whether provisional benefits are payable, the
amount of the provisional benefits, and when provisional benefits
terminate (see Sec. 404.1592f).

Subpart P--[Amended]

3. The authority citation for subpart P continues to read as
follows:

Authority: Secs. 202, 205(a), (b), and (d)-(h), 216(i), 221(a)
and (i), 222(c), 223, 225, and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 402, 405(a), (b), and (d)-(h), 416(i), 421(a) and (i),
422(c), 423, 425, and 902(a)(5)); sec. 211(b), Pub. L. 104-193, 110
Stat. 2105, 2189.

4. Add new Sec. Sec. 404.1592b through 404.1592g to read as
follows:

Sec. 404.1592b What is expedited reinstatement?

The expedited reinstatement provision provides you another option
for regaining entitlement to benefits when we previously terminated
your entitlement to disability benefits due to your work activity. The
expedited reinstatement provision provides you the option of requesting
that your prior entitlement to disability benefits be reinstated,
rather than filing a new application for a new period of entitlement.
Since January 1, 2001, you can request to be reinstated to benefits if
you stop doing substantial gainful activity within 60 months of your
prior termination. You must have stopped doing substantial gainful
activity because of your medical condition. Your current impairment
must be the same as or related to your prior impairment and you must be
disabled. To determine if you are disabled, we will use our medical
improvement review standard (MIRS) that we use in our continuing
disability review process. The advantage of using MIRS is that we will
generally find that you are disabled unless your impairment has
improved so that you are able to work or unless an exception under the
MIRS process applies. We explain the rules for expedited reinstatement
in Sec. Sec. 404.1592c through 404.1592g.

Sec. 404.1592c Who is entitled to expedited reinstatement?

(a) You can have your entitlement to benefits reinstated under
expedited reinstatement if--
(1) You were previously entitled to a disability benefit on your
own record of earnings as indicated in Sec. 404.315, or as a disabled
widow or widower as indicated in Sec. 404.335, or as a disabled child
as indicated in Sec. 404.350, or to Medicare entitlement based on
disability and Medicare qualified government employment as indicated in
42 CFR 406.15;
(2) Your disability entitlement referred to in paragraph (a)(1) of
this section was terminated because you did substantial gainful
activity;
(3) You file your request for reinstatement timely under Sec.
404.1592d; and
(4) In the month you file your request for reinstatement--
(i) You are not able to do substantial gainful activity because of
your medical condition;
(ii) Your current impairment is the same as or related to the
impairment that we used as the basis for your previous entitlement
referred to in paragraph (a)(2) of this section; and

[[Page 61168]]

(iii) You are disabled, as determined under the medical improvement
review standard in Sec. Sec. 404.1594(a) through 404.1594(f).
(b) You can not be reinstated under paragraph (a) of this section
if--
(1) You previously filed a request for expedited reinstatement and
we denied that request because we determined that you were not disabled
under the medical improvement review standard or that you did not have
a current impairment(s) that was the same as or related to the
impairment(s) that we used as the basis for your prior entitlement to
that benefit; or
(2) We previously determined you were no longer disabled based upon
the medical improvement review standard in Sec. 404.1594 because--
(i) We conducted a continuing disability review on a disability
entitlement, such as a disability benefit, a disabled child benefit, a
disabled widow(er) benefit, or Medicare entitlement based on Medicare
qualified government employment, or
(ii) We conducted a medical review on your Medicare entitlement
that had previously been continued under 42 CFR 406.12(e).
(c) You are entitled to reinstatement on the record of an insured
person who is or has been reinstated if--
(1) You were previously entitled to one of the following benefits
on the record of the insured person--
(i) A spouse or divorced spouse benefit under Sec. Sec. 404.330
and 404.331;
(ii) A child's benefit under Sec. 404.350; or
(iii) A parent's benefit under Sec. 404.370;
(2) You were entitled to benefits on the record when we terminated
the insured person's entitlement;
(3) You meet the requirements for entitlement to the benefit
described in the applicable paragraph (c)(1)(i) through (c)(1)(iii) of
this section; and
(4) You request to be reinstated.

Sec. 404.1592d How do I request reinstatement?

(a) You must make your request for reinstatement in writing;
(b) You must have filed your request on or after January 1, 2001;
and
(c) You must provide the information we request so that we can
determine whether you meet the requirements for reinstatement as
indicated in Sec. 404.1592c.
(d) If you request reinstatement under Sec. 404.1592c(a)--
(1) We must receive your request within the consecutive 60-month
period that begins with the month in which your entitlement terminated
due to doing substantial gainful activity. If we receive your request
after the 60-month period we can grant you an extension if we determine
you had good cause under the standards explained in Sec. 404.911 for
not filing the request timely; and
(2) You must certify that you are disabled, that your current
impairment(s) is the same as or related to the impairment(s) that we
used as the basis for the benefit you are requesting to be reinstated,
and that you became unable to continue to do substantial gainful
activity because of your medical condition.

Sec. 404.1592e How do we determine whether you are unable to do
substantial gainful activity because of your medical condition?

(a) You are unable to do substantial gainful activity because of
your medical condition when you become unable to continue working, or
you reduce your work and earnings below the substantial gainful
activity earnings level, due to your impairment or because special
circumstances that permitted you to work despite your impairment are
removed. We will consider special circumstances that permitted you to
work despite your impairment to have been removed, for instance, when
your employer terminates you during a general layoff from a job that
you performed under special circumstances or you must stop that work
due to a natural disaster.
(b) We will not consider you unable to do substantial gainful
activity because of your medical condition when you stop work, or
reduce your work and earnings below the substantial gainful level, for
reasons unrelated to your medical condition. We will not consider you
unable to do substantial gainful activity because of your medical
condition when, for instance, you are not working because you work in
seasonal employment and you are now in the normal off-season or you
stop work for personal reasons not related to your medical condition.
(c) Examples:

Example 1. Mr. K is laid-off from his job because the business
owners close the plant where he is working. Mr. K was able to work
at this plant because it was located close to the bus line located
near his house. Mr. K must work near a bus line because of his
medical condition. Mr. K is considered to have stopped work due to
his medical condition under paragraph (a) of this section. Mr. K had
special transportation accommodations that allowed him to work in
that job as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.
Example 2. Mr. L is laid-off from his job because the owners are
retooling the plant where he is working. Mr. L had no special
circumstances under paragraph (d) of this section that enabled him
to work. Under paragraph (b) of this section, Mr. L is not
considered to have stopped work due to his medical condition because
he stopped work for reasons unrelated to his medical condition and
he had no special circumstances related to his employment.
Example 3. Ms. M works as a teacher. Her contract requires her
to work from September of one year through June of the next year.
Ms. M contacts us in July and indicates she last worked in June. She
indicates she is in her normal off-work period and plans to return
to work in September when her next contract begins. She indicates
the reason she stopped work is her contract is over. She has nothing
else preventing her from working in July. Under paragraph (b) of
this section, Ms. M is not considered to have stopped work because
of her medical condition.

(d) When we consider whether you had special circumstances in your
work for purposes of this section, we will consider how well you did
your work as discussed in Sec. 404.1573(b), whether your work was done
under special conditions as discussed in Sec. 404.1573(c), and whether
you were able to work because you had a special need that was being
accommodated, such as special transportation requirements.

Sec. 404.1592f How do we determine provisional benefits?

(a) You may receive up to 6 consecutive months of provisional cash
benefits and Medicare during the provisional benefit period, while we
determine whether we can reinstate your disability benefit entitlement
under Sec. 404.1592c--
(1) We will pay you provisional benefits, and reinstate your
Medicare if you are not already entitled to Medicare, beginning with
the month you file your request for reinstatement under Sec.
404.1592c(a);
(2) We will pay you a monthly provisional benefit amount equal to
the last monthly benefit payable to you during your prior entitlement,
increased by any cost of living increases that would have been
applicable to the prior benefit amount under Sec. 404.270. The last
monthly benefit payable is the amount of the monthly insurance benefit
we determined that was actually paid to you for the month before the
month in which your entitlement was terminated, after we applied the
reduction, deduction and nonpayment provisions in Sec. 404.401 through
Sec. 404.480;
(3) If you are entitled to another monthly benefit payable under
the provisions of title II of the Act for the same month you can be
paid a provisional benefit, we will pay you an amount equal to the
higher of the benefits payable;

[[Page 61169]]

(4) If you request reinstatement for more than one benefit
entitlement, we will pay you an amount equal to the higher of the
provisional benefits payable;
(5) If you are eligible for Supplementary Security Income payments
under Sec. Sec. 416.200 through 416.269 of this chapter, including
provisional payments, we will reduce your provisional benefits under
Sec. 404.408b if applicable; and
(6) We will not reduce your provisional benefit, or the payable
benefit to other individuals entitled on an earnings record, under
Sec. 404.403, when your provisional benefit causes the total benefits
payable on the earnings record to exceed the family maximum.
(b) We will not pay you a provisional benefit for a month when an
applicable nonpayment rule applies. Examples of when we will not pay a
benefit include, but are not limited to--
(1) If you are a prisoner under Sec. 404.468;
(2) If you have been removed/deported under Sec. 404.464; or
(3) If you are an alien outside the United States under Sec.
404.460.
(c) We will not pay you a provisional benefit for any month that is
after the earliest of the following months--
(1) The month we send you a notice of our determination on your
request for reinstatement;
(2) The month you do substantial gainful activity;
(3) The month before the month you attain full retirement age; or
(4) The fifth month following the month you requested expedited
reinstatement.
(d) You are not entitled to provisional benefits if, prior to
starting your provisional benefits--
(1) We determine that you do not meet the requirements for
reinstatement under Sec. Sec. 404.1592c(a)(1) through 404.1592c(a)(3);
(2) We determine that you are not entitled to reinstatement under
Sec. 404.1592c(b); or
(3) We determine that your statements on your request for
reinstatement, made under Sec. 404.1592d(d)(2), are false.
(e) Determinations we make regarding your provisional benefits
under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section are final and are not
subject to administrative and judicial review under Sec. Sec. 404.900
through 404.999d.
(f) If you were previously overpaid benefits under title II or
title XVI of the Act, we will not recover the overpayment from your
provisional benefits unless you give us permission. We can recover
Medicare premiums you owe from your provisional benefits.
(g) If we determine you are not entitled to reinstated benefits,
provisional benefits we have already paid you under this section that
were made prior to the termination month under paragraph (c) of this
section, will not be subject to recovery as an overpayment unless we
determine that you knew, or should have known, you did not meet the
requirements for reinstatement in Sec. 404.1592c.

Sec. 404.1592g How do we determine reinstated benefits?

(a) If you meet the requirements for reinstatement under Sec.
404.1592c(a), we will then consider in which month to reinstate your
entitlement. We will reinstate your entitlement with the earliest
month, in the 12-month period that ends with the month before you filed
your request for reinstatement, that you would have met all of the
requirements under Sec. 404.1592c(a) if you had filed your request for
reinstatement in that month. Otherwise, you will be entitled to
reinstated benefits beginning with the month in which you filed your
request for such benefits. We cannot reinstate your entitlement for any
month prior to January 2001.
(b) When your entitlement is reinstated, you are also entitled to
Medicare benefits under the provisions of 42 CFR part 406.
(c) We will compute your reinstated benefit amount and determine
benefits payable under the applicable paragraphs of Sec. Sec. 404.201
through 404.480 with certain exceptions--
(1) We will reduce your reinstated benefit due in a month by a
provisional benefit we already paid you for that month. If your
provisional benefit paid for a month exceeds the reinstated benefit, we
will treat the difference as an overpayment under Sec. Sec. 404.501
through 404.527.
(2) If you are reinstated on your own earnings record, we will
compute your primary insurance amount with the same date of onset we
used in your most recent period of disability on your earnings record.
(d) We will not pay you reinstated benefits for any months of
substantial gainful activity during your initial reinstatement period.
During the initial reinstatement period the trial work period
provisions of Sec. 404.1592 and the reentitlement period provisions of
Sec. 404.1592a do not apply. The initial reinstatement period begins
with the month your reinstated benefits begin under paragraph (a) of
this section and ends when you have had 24 payable months of reinstated
benefits. We consider you to have a payable month for the purposes of
this paragraph when you do not do substantial gainful activity in that
month and the non-payment provisions in Sec. 404.401 through 404.480
also do not apply. When we determine if you have done substantial
gainful activity in a month during the initial reinstatement period, we
will consider only your work in, or earnings for, that month. We will
not apply the unsuccessful work attempt provisions of Sec. Sec.
404.1574(c) and 404.1575(d) or the averaging of earnings provisions in
Sec. 404.1574a.
(e) After you complete the 24-month initial reinstatement period as
indicated in paragraph (d) of this section, your subsequent work will
be evaluated under the trial work provisions in Sec. 404.1592 and then
the reentitlement period in Sec. 404.1592a.
(f) Your entitlement to reinstated benefits ends with the month
before the earliest of the following months--
(1) The month an applicable terminating event in Sec. 404.301
through 404.392 occurs;
(2) The month in which you reach retirement age;
(3) The third month following the month in which your disability
ceases; or
(4) The month in which you die.
(g) Determinations we make under Sec. Sec. 404.1592g are initial
determinations under Sec. 404.902 and subject to review under
Sec. Sec. 404.900 through 404.999d.
(h) If we determine you are not entitled to reinstated benefits we
will consider your request filed under Sec. 404.1592c(a) your intent
to claim benefits under Sec. 404.630.

PART 416--SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND
DISABLED

Subpart I--[Amended]

5. The authority citation for subpart I of part 416 is revised to
read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 702(a)(5), 1611, 1614, 1619, 1631(a), (c),
(d)(1), and (p) and 1633 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383(a), (c), (d)(1), and (p), and
1383b); secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460,
98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note,
and 1382h note).

6. Add new Sec. Sec. 416.999 through 416.999e to read as follows:

Sec. 416.999 What is expedited reinstatement?

The expedited reinstatement provision provides you another option
for regaining eligibility for benefits when we previously terminated
your eligibility to disability benefits due to your work activity. The
expedited

[[Page 61170]]

reinstatement provision provides you the option of requesting that your
prior eligibility for disability benefits be reinstated, rather than
filing a new application for a new period of eligibility. Since January
1, 2001, you can request to be reinstated to benefits if you stop doing
substantial gainful activity within 60 months of your prior
termination. You must have stopped doing substantial gainful activity
because of your medical condition. Your current impairment must be the
same as or related to your prior impairment and you must be disabled.
To determine if you are disabled, we will use our medical improvement
review standard (MIRS) that we use in our continuing disability review
process. The advantage of using MIRS is that we will generally find
that you are disabled unless your impairment has improved so that you
are able to work or unless an exception under the MIRS process applies.
We explain the rules for expedited reinstatement in Sec. Sec. 416.999a
through 416.999e.

Sec. 416.999a Who is eligible for expedited reinstatement?

(a) You can have your eligibility to benefits reinstated under
expedited reinstatement if--
(1) You were previously eligible for a benefit based on disability
or blindness as explained in Sec. 416.202;
(2) Your disability or blindness eligibility referred to in
paragraph (a)(1) of this section was terminated because of earned
income or a combination of earned and unearned income;
(3) You file your request for reinstatement timely under Sec.
416.999b; and
(4) In the month you file your request for reinstatement--
(i) You are not able to do substantial gainful activity because of
your medical condition,
(ii) Your current impairment is the same as or related to the
impairment that we used as the basis for your previous eligibility
referred to in paragraph (a)(2) of this section,
(iii) You are disabled or blind, as determined under the medical
improvement review standard in Sec. Sec. 416.994 or 416.994a, and
(iv) You meet the non-medical requirements for eligibility as
explained in Sec. 416.202.
(b) You cannot be reinstated under paragraph (a) of this section
if--
(1) You previously filed a request for expedited reinstatement and
we denied that request because we determined that you were not disabled
under the medical improvement review standard or that you did not have
a current impairment(s) that was the same as or related to the
impairment(s) that we used as the basis for your prior entitlement to
that benefit; or
(2) We previously determined you were not disabled or blind based
upon the medical improvement review standard in Sec. Sec. 416.994 or
416.994a.
(c) You are eligible for reinstatement if you are the spouse of an
individual who can be reinstated under Sec. 416.999a if--
(1) You were previously an eligible spouse of the individual;
(2) You meet the requirements for eligibility as explained in Sec.
416.202 except the requirement that you must file an application; and
(3) You request reinstatement.

Sec. 416.999b How do I request reinstatement?

(a) You must make your request for reinstatement in writing;
(b) You must have filed your request on or after January 1, 2001;
(c) You must provide the information we request so that we can
determine whether you meet the eligibility requirements listed in Sec.
416.999a;
(d) We must receive your request within the consecutive 60-month
period that begins with the month in which your eligibility terminated
due to earned income, or a combination of earned and unearned income.
If we receive your request after the 60-month period, we can grant you
an extension if we determine you had good cause, under the standards
explained in Sec. 416.1411, for not filing the request timely; and
(e) You must certify that you are disabled, that your current
impairment(s) is the same as or related to the impairment(s) that we
used as the basis for the eligibility you are requesting to be
reinstated, that you became unable to continue to do substantial
gainful activity because of your medical condition, and that you meet
the non-medical requirements for eligibility for benefits.

Sec. 416.999c How do we determine whether you are unable to do
substantial gainful activity because of your medical condition?

Example 1. Mr. K is laid-off from his job because the business
owners close the plant where he is working. Mr. K was able to work
at this plant because it was located close to the bus line located
near his house. Mr. K must work near a bus line because of his
medical condition. Mr. K is considered to have stopped work due to
his medical condition under paragraph (a) of this section. Mr. K had
special transportation accommodations that allowed him to work in
that job as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.
Example 2. Mr. L is laid-off from his job because the owners are
retooling the plant where he is working. Mr. L had no special
circumstances under paragraph (d) of this section that enabled him
to work. Under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, Mr. L is not
considered to have stopped work due to his medical condition because
he stopped work for reasons unrelated to his medical condition and
he had no special circumstances related to his employment.
Example 3. Ms. M works as a teacher. Her contract requires her
to work from September of one year through June of the next year.
Ms. M contacts us in July and indicates she last worked in June. She
indicates she is in her normal off-work period and plans to return
to work in September when her next contract begins. She indicates
the reason she stopped work is her contract is over. She has nothing
else preventing her from working in July. Under paragraph (b) of
this section, Ms. M is not considered to have stopped work because
of her medical condition.
(d) When we consider whether you had special circumstances in
your work for purposes of this section, we will consider how well
you did your work as discussed in Sec. 416.973(b), whether your
work was done under special conditions as discussed in Sec.
416.973(c), and whether you were able to work because you had a
special need that was being accommodated, such as special
transportation requirements.

Sec. 416.999d How do we determine provisional benefits?

(a) You may receive up to 6 consecutive months of provisional cash

[[Page 61171]]

benefits and Medicaid during the provisional benefit period, while we
determine whether we can reinstate your disability benefit eligibility
under Sec. 416.999a--
(1) We will pay you provisional benefits beginning with the month
after you file your request for reinstatement under Sec. 416.999a(a);
(2) If you are an eligible spouse, you can receive provisional
benefits with the month your spouse's provisional benefits begin;
(3) We will pay you a monthly provisional benefit amount equal to
the monthly amount that would be payable to an eligible individual
under Sec. Sec. 416.401 through 416.435 with the same kind and amount
of income as you have;
(4) If you have an eligible spouse, we will pay you and your spouse
a monthly provisional benefit amount equal to the monthly amount that
would be payable to an eligible individual and eligible spouse under
Sec. 416.401 through 416.435 with the same kind and amount of income
as you and your spouse have; and
(5) Your provisional benefits will not include state supplementary
payments payable under Sec. Sec. 416.2001 through 416.2176.
(b) We will not pay you a provisional benefit for a month where you
are not eligible for a payment under Sec. Sec. 416.1322, 416.1323,
416.1325, 416.1327, 416.1329, 416.1330, 416.1334, and 416.1339.
(c) We will not pay you a provisional benefit for any month that is
after the earliest of: The month we send you notice of our
determination on your request for reinstatement; or, the sixth month
following the month you requested expedited reinstatement.
(d) You are not eligible for provisional benefits if, prior to
starting your provisional benefits--
(1) We determine that you do not meet the requirements for
reinstatement under Sec. Sec. 416.999a(a)(1) through 416.999a(a)(3);
(2) We determine that you are not eligible for reinstatement under
Sec. 416.999a(b); or
(3) We determine that your statements on your request for
reinstatement, made under Sec. 416.999b(d)(2), are false.
(e) Determinations we make regarding your provisional benefits
under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section are final and are not
subject to administrative and judicial review under Sec. Sec. 416.1400
through 416.1499.
(f) If you were previously overpaid benefits under title II or
title XVI of the Act, we will not recover the overpayment from your
provisional benefits unless you give us permission.
(g) If we determine you are not eligible to receive reinstated
benefits, provisional benefits we have already paid you under this
section that were made prior to the termination month under paragraph
(c) of this section, will not be subject to recovery as an overpayment
unless we determine that you knew, or should have known, you did not
meet the requirements for reinstatement in Sec. 416.999a.

Sec. 416.999e How do we determine reinstated benefits?

(a) If you meet the requirements for reinstatement under Sec.
416.999a(a), we will reinstate your benefits with the month after the
month you filed your request for reinstatement. We cannot reinstate
your eligibility for any month prior to February 2001.
(b) We will compute your reinstated benefit amount and determine
benefits payable under the applicable paragraphs in Sec. Sec. 416.401
through 416.435. We will reduce your reinstated benefit due in a month
by a provisional benefit we already paid you for that month. If your
provisional benefit paid for a month exceeds the reinstated benefit
due, we will treat the difference as an overpayment under Sec.
416.536.
(c) Once you have been reinstated under Sec. 416.999a you cannot
be reinstated again until you have completed a 24-month initial
reinstatement period. Your initial reinstatement period begins with the
month your reinstated benefits begin under paragraph (a) of this
section and ends when you have had 24 payable months of reinstated
benefits. We consider you to have a payable month for the purposes of
this paragraph when you are due a cash benefit of any amount for the
month based upon our normal computation and payment rules in Sec.
416.401 through Sec. 416.435. If your entire benefit payment due you
for a month is adjusted for recovery of an overpayment under Sec.
416.570 and Sec. 416.571 or if the amount of the provisional benefit
already paid you for a month exceeds the amount of the reinstated
benefit payable for that month so that no additional payment is due, we
will consider the month a payable month.
(d) Your eligibility to reinstated benefits ends with the month
preceding the earliest of the following months--
(1) The month an applicable terminating event in Sec. Sec.
416.1331 through 416.1339 occurs;
(2) The third month following the month in which your disability
ceases; or
(3) The month in which you die.
(e) Determinations we make under this section are initial
determinations under Sec. 416.1402 and are subject to review under
Sec. 416.1400 through 416.1499.
(f) If we determine you are not eligible for reinstated benefits,
we will consider your request filed under Sec. 416.999a(a) your intent
to claim benefits under Sec. 416.340.

Subpart N--[Amended]

7. The authority citation for subpart N continues to read as
follows:

Authority: Secs. 702(a)(5), 1631, and 1633 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 1383, and 1383b); 31 U.S.C.
3720A.

8. Amend Sec. 416.1403 by revising paragraphs (a) (18) and (19),
adding paragraph (a) (20), and revising paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) to
read as follows:

Sec. 416.1403 Administrative actions that are not initial
determinations.

(a) * * *
(18) Determining whether we will refer information about your
overpayment to a consumer reporting agency (see Sec. Sec. 416.590 and
422.305 of this chapter);
(19) Determining whether we will refer your overpayment to the
Department of the Treasury for collection by offset against Federal
payments due you (see Sec. Sec. 416.590 and 422.310 of this chapter);
and
(20) Determining when provisional benefits are payable, the amount
of the provisional benefit payable, and when provisional benefits
terminate. (See Sec. 416.999d).
(b) * * *
(1) If you receive an emergency advance payment; presumptive
disability or presumptive blindness payment, or provisional payment, we
will provide a notice explaining the nature and conditions of the
payments.
(2) If you receive presumptive disability or presumptive blindness
payments, or provisional payments, we shall send you a notice when
those payments are exhausted.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-26951 Filed 10-24-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4191-02-P