SSA Extends Expiration Dates on Selected Listings

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a listing of impairments (divided by body systems) at step three of the sequential evaluation process when reviewing claims for Social Security disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

If a claimant for disability or SSI benefits meets or medically equals the criteria for one of the listing of impairments, the claim is approved at that step. In today’s Federal Register, SSA extended the expiration dates for several body systems:

“We are extending the expiration dates of the following body systems in the Listing of Impairments (listings) in our regulations: Special Senses and Speech, Hematological Disorders, and Congenital Disorders That Affect Multiple Body Systems. We are making no other revisions to these body systems in this final rule.”

The new expiration date for these body systems listings is June 5, 2026.

Social Security Disability and POTS

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is a poorly understood malfunction of the autonomic nervous system that can affect many systems and organs in the body. Common symptoms include blurred vision, racing heartbeat, light sensitivity, shakiness, fatigue, and brain fog. Sometimes these symptoms can be managed well enough to allow people to continue to work, but many people are so debilitated that Social Security disability is the only answer.

In this article from Chicago Health, Amanda Ritchie tells her story of living with POTS. A good introduction to a challenging diagnosis.

SSA Now Using AI in Disability Evaluations

According to Sean Brune, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Social Security Administration (SSA), the pandemic accelerated SSA’s efforts to modernize its systems, including the use of artificial intelligence in the evaluation of disability claims. Mr. Brune said that SSA is focused on adopting “more robust technology for assisting in adjudication or decisions on claims. Particularly in the disability arena, we are expanding our use of artificial intelligence [referred to by SSA as “automated decision support”] to identify evidentiary documents that meet our requirements and flag them to the decision maker.”

Mr. Brune also noted that “[u]ntil this year, there were 54 different unique systems to adjudicate those funds,” he said. “Now we have one nationwide disability claims processing system. We’ve retired those state legacy systems, and that has enabled us to apply artificial intelligence.”

ALJ Job Posting - Opened and Closed

On April 27th, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced job openings for the position of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Once 1000 applications were received, the job opening would be closed. And just like that, the opening closed the same day. According to the posting, ALJs earn between $136,651 - $187,300 per year.

If you ever wanted to know what an ALJ does, the posting gives you a list of 19 responsibilities.