Social Security administers disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
While the Social Security Administration’s disability determination process is sound, it continually seeks improvements to ensure that the disability program remains current and reduces the burden on customers. When deciding an adult’s disability benefit claim, the Social Security Administration may have to evaluate whether the person can adapt to other jobs, many of which exist in the nation’s economy. To make this determination, the Social Security Administration considers the individual’s age, education, and work history, as well as the individual’s ability to perform work-related activities.
When making a determination of “no disability” for eligibility purposes, agencies must support that determination with evidence that an individual can accommodate a large number of jobs in the nation’s economy. Agencies use selected characteristics of occupations defined in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and its companion publication, the Revised Dictionary of Occupational Titles, as their authoritative source of information regarding such jobs.
The Department of Transportation has identified 114 Department of Transportation occupations that have very limited or no presence in each of the nine census tracts in the U.S. Based on the results of this study, the Department of Transportation will not use these occupations as the basis for a “no disability” determination in the final step of the disability determination evaluation process.
The Department also identified 13 Department of Transportation occupations where federal courts have questioned the evidence supporting a “not disabled” determination, and the Department is implementing additional evidentiary requirements for these occupations.
“It makes sense to identify occupations that currently exist in very limited numbers in the nation’s economy,” Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said. “With this update, our decision makers will no longer cite these occupations when denying disability certifications.
application.”
On June 22, 2024, the Agency released new public guidance and instructions regarding these changes. The Agency anticipates that as a result, it will consider only the most relevant occupations when determining whether an applicant for disability benefits can perform other types of work.
Longer term, the Social Security Administration will continue to analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Requirements Survey to inform future updates. These changes add to a list of policy updates the Social Security Administration has published to improve disability programs. For example, the Administration recently announced it will reduce barriers to accessing the SSI program by updating the definition of a welfare household (see Press Release | Press Office | SSA). The Administration also announced it will remove the value of food from the calculation of SSI benefits (see Press Release | Press Office | SSA).
To view the release in English: PressRls.Occupations List Updates
To view the release in Spanish: SP-PressRls.Occupations.List.Updates-2024-06-24