Making DI Work For All Americans Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4854 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update and improve eligibility criteria for the Social Security Disability Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. YOHO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update and improve eligibility criteria for the Social Security Disability Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making DI Work For 4 All Americans Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4854 IH TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES Sec. 101. Strengthening the administrative law judge quality review process. Sec. 102. Applying judicial code of conduct to administrative law judges. Sec. 103. Compensation for claimant representatives. Sec. 104. Minimum monthly withholding to recover overpayments. Sec. 105. Disqualification on receipt of disability insurance benefits in a month for which unemployment compensation is received. Sec. 106. Elimination of reconsideration review application stages. Sec. 107. Report on hiring new administrative law judges and staff. TITLE II—ELIGIBILITY Sec. 201. Updating of medical-vocational guidelines. Sec. 202. Review of social media activity. Sec. 203. Updating data on work which exists in national economy. TITLE III—CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS Sec. 301. Study on impact of medical review standard. Sec. 302. Additional training relating to MIRS exceptions. Sec. 303. Increased frequency of continuing disability reviews. Sec. 304. Communication relating to termination of benefits. Sec. 305. Communication relating to reporting requirements. TITLE IV—BENEFITS Sec. 401. Establishment of annual poverty guideline based disability insurance benefits. Sec. 402. Retroactive payment of benefits. Sec. 403. Inclusion of unearned income in determination of substantial gainful activity. TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE 1 CHANGES 2 SEC. 101. STRENGTHENING THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 3 JUDGE QUALITY REVIEW PROCESS. 4 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the date 5 of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Divi- 6 sion of Quality of the Office of Appellate Operations of 7 the Social Security Administration shall conduct a review 8 of a sample of determinations that individuals are entitled 9 to disability insurance benefits by outlier administrative 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4854 IH law judges and identify any determinations that are not 1 supported by the evidence. 2 (b) REPORT.—Not later than December 1 of each 3 year in which a review described in subsection (a) is con- 4 ducted, the Division of Quality Review of the Office of Ap- 5 pellate Operations of the Social Security Administration 6 shall submit a report containing the results of such review, 7 including all determinations that were found to be unsup- 8 ported by the evidence, together with any recommenda- 9 tions for administrative action or proposed legislation that 10 the Division determines appropriate, to— 11 (1) the Inspector General of the Social Security 12 Administration; 13 (2) the Commissioner of the Social Security Ad- 14 ministration; 15 (3) the Committees on Ways and Means and 16 Oversight and Reform of the House of Representa- 17 tives; and 18 (4) the Committees on Finance and Homeland 19 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 20 (c) DEFINITION OF OUTLIER ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 21 JUDGE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘outlier 22 administrative law judge’’ means an administrative law 23 judge within the Office of Disability Adjudication and Re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4854 IH view of the Social Security Administration who, in a given 1 year— 2 (1) determines that the applicant is entitled to 3 disability insurance benefits more often than 90 per- 4 cent, or less often than 10 percent, of administrative 5 law judges making determinations under this title; 6 or 7 (2) issues more decisions than 90 percent, or 8 less decisions than 10 percent, of administrative law 9 judges making determinations under this title. 10 SEC. 102. APPLYING JUDICIAL CODE OF CONDUCT TO AD- 11 MINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3105 of title 5, United 13 States Code, is amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘Each agency’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘(a) Each agency’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(b) The Code of Conduct for United States Judges 18 adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States 19 shall apply to administrative law judges appointed under 20 this section. 21 ‘‘(c) If, in applying a standard of conduct to an ad- 22 ministrative law judge appointed under this section, there 23 is a conflict between the Code of Conduct for United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4854 IH States Judges and any other law or regulation, the stricter 1 standard of conduct shall apply. 2 ‘‘(d) Pursuant to section 7301, the President may 3 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 4 subsections (b) and (c).’’. 5 (b) LIMITATION ON REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Sec- 6 tion 1305 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 7 striking ‘‘3105’’ and inserting ‘‘3105(a)’’. 8 SEC. 103. COMPENSATION FOR CLAIMANT REPRESENTA- 9 TIVES. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Social Security 11 Act (42 U.S.C. 406) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘REPRESENTATION OF CLAIMANTS 13 ‘‘SEC. 206. (a)(1) The Commissioner of Social Secu- 14 rity may prescribe rules and regulations governing the rec- 15 ognition of agents or other persons, other than attorneys 16 as hereinafter provided, representing claimants before the 17 Commissioner of Social Security, and may require of such 18 agents or other persons, before being recognized as rep- 19 resentatives of claimants that they shall show that they 20 are of good character and in good repute, possessed of 21 the necessary qualifications to enable them to render such 22 claimants valuable service, and otherwise competent to ad- 23 vise and assist such claimants in the presentation of their 24 cases. An attorney in good standing who is admitted to 25 practice before the highest court of the State, Territory, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4854 IH District, or insular possession of his residence or before 1 the Supreme Court of the United States or the inferior 2 Federal courts, shall be entitled to represent claimants be- 3 fore the Commissioner of Social Security. 4 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commis- 5 sioner, after due notice and opportunity for hearing— 6 ‘‘(A) may refuse to recognize as a representa- 7 tive, and may disqualify a representative already rec- 8 ognized, any attorney who has been disbarred or 9 suspended from any court or bar to which he or she 10 was previously admitted to practice or who has been 11 disqualified from participating in or appearing be- 12 fore any Federal program or agency, and 13 ‘‘(B) may refuse to recognize, and may dis- 14 qualify, as a non-attorney representative any attor- 15 ney who has been disbarred or suspended from any 16 court or bar to which he or she was previously ad- 17 mitted to practice. 18 ‘‘(3) The Commissioner of Social Security may, after 19 due notice and opportunity for hearing, suspend or pro- 20 hibit from further practice before the Commissioner any 21 such person, agent, or attorney who refuses to comply with 22 the Commissioner’s rules and regulations. 23 ‘‘(b) In prescribing the rules and regulations de- 24 scribed in subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Se- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4854 IH curity may not prescribe any rules or regulations regard- 1 ing the permissible fees which may be charged for services 2 performed in connection with any claim before the Com- 3 missioner of Social Security under this title or title XVI. 4 In no case shall the Commissioner certify any amount for 5 payment to any representative out of any benefits payable 6 to a claimant under this title or title XVI.’’. 7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XVI.— 8 Section 1631(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1383(d)(2)) is amended— 10 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 11 follows: 12 ‘‘(A) The provisions of section 206 shall apply to this 13 part to the same extent as they apply in the case of title 14 II.’’; and 15 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 16 paragraph (B). 17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 18 this section shall apply with respect to applications for 19 benefits filed on or after January 1, 2020. 20 SEC. 104. MINIMUM MONTHLY WITHHOLDING TO RECOVER 21 OVERPAYMENTS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Social 23 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 404(a)(1)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4854 IH (1) by redesignating subparagraph (A) as 1 clause (i) of subparagraph (A); 2 (2) in subparagraph (A)(i) (as so redesignated), 3 by striking ‘‘With’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to clause 4 (ii), with’’; and 5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(ii) If the Commissioner determines that 7 withholding the full amount of a monthly dis- 8 ability insurance benefit payment to which an 9 individual is otherwise entitled under this title 10 to recover an overpayment pursuant to this sec- 11 tion would defeat the purpose of this title, the 12 Commissioner may withhold from such payment 13 an amount that is less than such full amount 14 but not less than 10 percent of such full 15 amount.’’. 16 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Commissioner of Social Se- 17 curity shall prescribe such regulations and make any con- 18 forming changes to regulations as the Commissioner de- 19 termines appropriate to carry out the amendments made 20 by this subsection. 21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this subsection shall apply with respect to overpayments 23 made on or after January 1, 2020. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4854 IH SEC. 105. DISQUALIFICATION ON RECEIPT OF DISABILITY 1 INSURANCE BENEFITS IN A MONTH FOR 2 WHICH UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION IS 3 RECEIVED. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(d)(4) of the Social 5 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(D)(i) If for any week ending within a month an 8 individual is paid unemployment compensation, such indi- 9 vidual shall be deemed to have engaged in substantial 10 gainful activity for such month. 11 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term ‘unemploy- 12 ment compensation’ means— 13 ‘‘(I) ‘regular compensation’, ‘extended com- 14 pensation’, and ‘additional compensation’ (as such 15 terms are defined by section 205 of the Federal- 16 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 17 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note)); and 18 ‘‘(II) trade readjustment allowance under title 19 II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et 20 seq.).’’. 21 (b) TRIAL WORK PERIOD.—Section 222(c) of the So- 22 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 422(c)) is amended by adding 23 at the end the following: 24 ‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this subsection, an individual 25 shall be deemed to have rendered services in a month if 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4854 IH the individual is paid unemployment compensation for any 1 week ending within such month. 2 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 3 ‘unemployment compensation’ means— 4 ‘‘(i) ‘regular compensation’, ‘extended com- 5 pensation’, and ‘additional compensation’ (as such 6 terms are defined by section 205 of the Federal- 7 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 8 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note)); and 9 ‘‘(ii) trade readjustment allowance under title II 10 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et 11 seq.).’’. 12 (c) DATA MATCHING.—The Commissioner of Social 13 Security shall implement the amendments made by this 14 section using appropriate electronic data. 15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 16 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who ini- 17 tially apply for disability insurance benefits on or after 18 January 1, 2020, and are paid unemployment compensa- 19 tion for any week ending on or after January 1, 2020. 20 SEC. 106. ELIMINATION OF RECONSIDERATION REVIEW AP- 21 PLICATION STAGES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(b) of the Social Secu- 23 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(b)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4854 IH (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 1 following new sentence: ‘‘Opportunity for a hearing 2 under this title in accordance with this subsection 3 with respect to any initial decision or determination 4 under this title shall be available without any re- 5 quirement for intervening reconsideration.’’; 6 (2) by striking paragraph (2); 7 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 8 graph (2); and 9 (4) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), by 10 striking ‘‘or an adverse determination on reconsider- 11 ation of such an initial determination’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title II of such 13 Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), as amended by subsection 14 (a), is further amended— 15 (1) in section 201(j), by striking ‘‘reconsider- 16 [Text truncated for display. 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