Social Security’s listing of impairments is the standard by which the agency considers disability claims. A variety of medical conditions are listed in this system and each listing has specific criteria which has to be met to determine the severity of the condition and whether it meets the standard for disability benefits. Social Security recently announced it was proposing changes to one of its listings regarding digestive system disorder. Below an overview of the current digestive system disorder listing followed by some changes Social Security is looking to implement.
Digestive System
- What kinds of disorders do we consider in the digestive system? Disorders of the digestive system include gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatic (liver) dysfunction, inflammatory bowel disease, short bowel syndrome, and malnutrition. They may also lead to complications, such as obstruction, or be accompanied by manifestations in other body systems.
- What documentation do we need? We need a record of your medical evidence, including clinical and laboratory findings. The documentation should include appropriate medically acceptable imaging studies and reports of endoscopy, operations, and pathology, as appropriate to each listing, to document the severity and duration of your digestive disorder. Medically acceptable imaging includes, but is not limited to, x-ray imaging, sonography, computerized axial tomography (CAT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and radionuclide scans. Appropriate means that the technique used is the proper one to support the evaluation and diagnosis of the disorder. The findings required by these listings must occur within the period we are considering in connection with your application or continuing disability review.
Summary of Changes
We propose to revise the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving digestive and skin disorders in adults and children under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). The proposed revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, and comments we received from experts and the public in response to two advance notices of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM).
The comments we received from these two ANPRMs informed the proposed changes in this NPRM. In developing these proposed rules, we also considered information from several
other sources, including:
- Medical experts in gastroenterology and dermatology;
- Advocacy groups for people with digestive and skin disorders;
- People with digestive and skin disorders and their families;
- People who make and review disability determinations and decisions for us in State agencies, in our Office of Hearings Operations, and in our Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight;
and
- The published sources we list in the References section at the end of this preamble.
How is this NPRM organized?
Digestive Disorders Overview of Proposed Revisions
- Adult digestive disorders proposed revisions
- Child digestive disorders proposed revisions
Keep in mind that this is only a proposal of changes, Social Security will accept comments and feedback on these changes, but it also has to consider the comments before it can adopt a final version of these rules. Anyone is allowed to comment on this proposal.
