[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 130 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32817-32818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16277]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
20 CFR Parts 404, 405, and 416
[Docket No. SSA-2007-0053]
Compassionate Allowances for Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and
Related Dementias; Office of the Commissioner, Hearing
AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).
ACTION: Announcement of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: We are considering ways to quickly identify diseases and other
serious medical conditions that obviously meet the definition of
disability under the Social Security Act (Act) and can be identified
with minimal objective medical information. We are calling this method
``Compassionate Allowances.'' We will hold a hearing on July 29, 2009,
to obtain information about possible methods of identifying adults with
Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias and the
advisability of implementing compassionate allowances for people with
these diseases.
DATES: This hearing will be held on July 29, 2009, between 8:30 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT), in Chicago, IL. The hearing
will be held at the Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, IL
60611. While the public is welcome to attend the hearing, only invited
witnesses will present testimony.
You may also watch the proceedings live via Webcast beginning at 9
a.m. CDT. You may access the Webcast line for the hearing on the Social
Security Administration Web site at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionate_allowances/hearings0709.htm.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments about the compassionate
allowances initiative with respect to adults with Early-Onset
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, as well as topics covered at
this hearing by (1) e-mail addressed to
[email protected]; or (2) regular mail to Nancy
Schoenberg, Acting Director, Office of Compassionate Allowances and
Disability Outreach, ODP, ORDP, Social Security Administration, 4671
Annex Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401. We
welcome your comments, but we may not respond directly to comments sent
in response to this notice of the hearing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: [email protected]. You
may also mail inquiries about this meeting to Nancy Schoenberg at the
above-mentioned address. For information on eligibility or filing for
benefits, call our national toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-
800-325-0778, or visit Social Security online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under titles II and XVI of the Act, we pay benefits to claimants
who meet our rules for entitlement and have medically determinable
physical or mental impairments that are severe enough to meet the
definition of disability in the Act. The rules for determining
disability can be very complicated, but some claimants have such
serious medical conditions that their conditions obviously meet our
disability standards. To better address the needs of these claimants,
we have implemented the Compassionate Allowance initiative to quickly
identify diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify
under our Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical
information.
[[Page 32818]]
Will We Respond to Your Comments?
We will carefully consider your comments, although we will not
respond directly to comments sent in response to this notice or the
hearing.
Additional Hearings
We have held three hearings since December 2007. These hearings
were on rare diseases, cancers, and traumatic brain injury and stroke.
You may access the transcripts of the hearings at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances. We plan to hold
additional hearings on other conditions and will announce those
hearings later with notices in the Federal Register.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 96.001, Social
Security--Disability Insurance; 96.006, Supplemental Security
Income.)
Dated: July 1, 2009.
Michael J. Astrue,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. E9-16277 Filed 7-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P