Zebley v. Sullivan

No. 83-3314 (E.D. Pa. May 3, 1990) ; Clearinghouse Number: 43127

Description

Pursuant to Supreme Court Decision, SSA Adopts Interim Standard for Determination of Disability in Children

Abstract

Pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision holding invalid SSA's child disability rules, because they did not carry out the statutory mandate that SSI benefits be provided to children with any impairment of "comparable severity" to an impairment that would make an adult "unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity," SSA has adopted an interim standard for determination of disability in children, to be utilized by all adjudicators during the period pending promulgation of a final regulation. Under the terms of a stipulation entered on remand to the district court, SSA has agreed to provide each individual whose claim is denied under the interim standard with the opportunity for a reconsideration determination under the interim standard. Further, with respect to claims now pending before the Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Office may, at its discretion, either allow the claim under the interim standard or remand the claim to the appropriate Disability Determination Service (DDS) for additional evidentiary development and adjudication. Claimants with cases pending before an ALJ for whom no hearing has been scheduled or pending before the Appeals Council may elect to have their claims remanded to the DDS. Finally, when a new regulation is published, SSA shall review all cases denied and may review cases allowed under the interim standard to determine whether benefits should be allowed under the new regulation, without regard to whether the child had demonstrated medical improvement since the time that his or her claim was granted under the interim standard. Under the interim standard, adjudicators must fully consider a child's functional limitations when evaluating the severity of the child's impairment, assessing ability to perform a full range of age-appropriate activities in an age-appropriate manner. A child's physical and mental limitations (including developmental limitations) that are attributable to a medically determinable impairment(s) should also be evaluated on the basis of all available evidence. In no circumstance shall a child be found "not disabled" solely because he or she does not have an impairment or combination of impairments that equals a listing.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Jonathan Stein, Richard Weishaupt, Thomas Sutton, Sheldon Toubman, Community Legal Services, 1324 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 893-5300; Mark Kaufman
Docket Date
1990-05-03 00:00:00+00:00