Director, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy

0960-AH86 202004 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 0960 Social Security Administration SSA Removing Inability to Communicate in English as an Education Category

This final rule would eliminate the education category "inability to communicate in English" when we evaluate disability claims for adults under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. Changes in the national workforce since we added this category to our rules in 1978 demonstrate that this education category is no longer a reliable indicator of an individual’s educational attainment or the vocational impact of an individual’s education. The rule would reflect research and data related to English language proficiency, work, and education; expansion of the international reach of our disability programs; and audit findings by our Office of the Inspector General. The rule would help us better assess the vocational impact of education in the disability determination process.

]]> Economically Significant Previously Published in The Unified Agenda Completed Actions Yes No Regulatory 20 CFR 404.1564, part 404 subpart P app 20 CFR 416.964 42 U.S.C. 402 42 U.S.C. 405(a) to 405(b) 42 U.S.C. 405(d) to 405(h) 42 U.S.C. 416(i) 42 U.S.C. 421(a) 42 U.S.C. 421(h) to (j) 42 U.S.C. 422(c) 42 U.S.C. 423 42 U.S.C. 425 42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5) Yes NPRM 02/01/2019 84 FR 1006 NPRM Comment Period End 04/02/2019 Final Action 02/25/2020 85 FR 10586 Final Action Effective 04/27/2020 No No None No No www.regulations.gov No No Daniel O'Brien Director, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy 0960 Social Security Administration SSA 410 597-1632 dan.obrien@ssa.gov Office of Vocational, Evaluation, and Process Policy, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore MD 21235-6401