Social Security Administration Updates Program Policy Manual: Disability Evaluation and Electronic Appeals Instructions Revised
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) on October 28 updated six instructions in its Program Operations Manual System (POMS), according to the agency's subscription bulletin of October 29. The updates concern disability adjudication and the appeals process for Title II benefits, Medicare entitlement under Title XVIII, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
The disability update (DI 25015) clarifies how adjudicators should consider an individual's residual functional capacity (RFC) for less than a full range of sedentary work at step five of the sequential evaluation process, including guidelines on whether assessed limitations slightly or significantly erode the occupational base; SSR 96-9p remains in effect.
The remaining five updates — covering Appeals Council review, hearings, and administrative law judge (ALJ) hearings for SSI — incorporate the EM-21000 instructions into POMS, making permanent the Electronic Non-Medical (ENM) appeals process created during the COVID-19 pandemic, with further clarification of procedures including form HA-520, and removal of outdated information. The ENM process replaced the manual, paper-based non-medical appeals workload between field offices, processing centers, and disability adjudication units, which had been suspended during the pandemic.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于马里兰州伍德劳恩的美国社会保障署总部大楼（素材库 federal-core 固定图）。GSM 素材库。 / The U.S. Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland. GSM asset library (federal-core pack).
