The Social Security Administration has asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is administered by the White House, to approve the publishing of an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking related to pain for the adult disability process.
The request is rather vague and does not provide any proposed changes to how pain is considered as part of the disability determination. The only explanation of the notice, seen below, comes from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Our regulations set a two-step process for evaluating pain in disability claims, at which we identify the existence of medical evidence supporting pain and evaluate the intensity of the alleged pain respectively. With this ANPRM we seek to solicit public comment on these existing rules to determine whether they align with current medicine and health care research.
Currently, the main focus of pain and Social Security disability is found under Section 1.00 Musculoskeletal System of Social Security’s listing of impairments. Below is the language Social Security currently uses to analyze pain.
Pain Or Other Symptoms
Pain or other symptoms may be an important factor contributing to functional loss. In order for pain or other symptoms to be found to affect an individual’s ability to perform basic work activities, medical signs or laboratory findings must show the existence of a medically determinable impairment(s) that could reasonably be expected to produce the pain or other symptoms. The musculoskeletal listings that include pain or other symptoms among their criteria also include criteria for limitations in functioning as a result of the listed impairment, including limitations caused by pain. It is, therefore, important to evaluate the intensity and persistence of such pain or other symptoms carefully in order to determine their impact on the individual’s functioning under other listings.
Considering there is no actual proposal to consider yet, any changes related to how Social Security analyzes pain in a disability claim could be a ways down the road.
