Social Security Laws, Regulations, & Rulings

The website of the Office of Disability and Income Security Policy in the U.S. Social Security Administration provides a Program Policy Documents page that contains links to Social Security laws, regulations, rulings, and program policy and procedure documents. The following are highlights of the resources provided:

• Compilation of the Social Security Laws: Organized into two volumes, it includes the Social Security Act, as amended, as well as recent changes to Social Security Laws.

• Code of Federal Regulations: 20 CFR Parts 400-499 — Federal regulations dealing with Social Security.

• Social Security Rulings: Social Security Rulings and Acquiescence Rulings on Federal Old-Age, Survivors, Disability, Supplemental Security Income, and Black Lung Benefits.

• Program Operations Manual (POMS): Primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process claims for Social Security benefits.

• Hearings, Appeals, and Litigation Law Manual (HALLEX): Operations manual for handling appeals of Agency decisions used by SSA’s Office of Hearing and Appeals.

Another online source of information on Social Security Law is Cornell University Legal Information Institute’s Social Security Library. To locate particular regulations or rulings, sections of the Social Security Act or court decisions, use the table of contents on the right side of the page. If you have a question or topic in mind, use the reference work Martin on Social Security. For the topics covered, it links to relevant portions of the Social Security Act, the Code of Federal Regulations, HALLEX, POMS, as well as important cases and rulings.