Unless you are a Social Security insider you probably have no idea what the Social Security GRID rules are or why they are an important factor in the Social Security disability process. Even you don’t know what the GRID rules are, the news that the Trump Administration is interested in changing them with just a month left in office should be alarming.
Social Security has a listing of impairments. If a disability claimant has an impairment that is part of the listings and their condition meets the criteria of the listing they are qualified for disability benefits. Sometimes a claimant has a severe medical condition that does not meet the criteria, when this occurs the Social Security GRID rules play a factor. The GRID rules are a series of charts that can also qualify people for disability benefits.
A drafted proposed rule has been sent to the administration’s Office of Management and Budget for review that would make it more difficult to qualify for disability benefits based on the GRID rule changes. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives noticed this move and criticized the maneuver. In a joint press release from U.S. Reps Richard Neal, John B. Larson and Danny K. Davis, the legislators said the Trump Administration’s continued assault on Social Security’s disability program will not go unchallenged.
“Yet again, the Trump Administration is going out of its way to make it harder for people to qualify for the Social Security disability benefits they have earned. Already, fewer than four in 10 applicants are found eligible for Social Security disability benefits, even after all levels of appeal. This rule would reportedly further restrict eligibility for approximately 500,000 Americans, making it even harder for older, severely disabled people to access the essential income they’re qualified to receive. It is outrageous and cruel that at the eleventh hour and in the middle of a pandemic the Trump Administration is trying to advance yet another harmful cut to Social Security benefits for the most vulnerable Americans.”
Fortunately most Social Security experts do not believe these changes will be tolerable under a President-Elect Joe Biden Administration, so one has to wonder what this last minute ploy is all about
