I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4854 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update and improve eligibility 

criteria for the Social Security Disability Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 23, 2019 

Mr. YOHO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and 

Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update 

and improve eligibility criteria for the Social Security 

Disability Program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making DI Work For 

5 All Americans Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 


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TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES 

Sec. 101. Strengthening the administrative law judge quality review process. 

Sec. 102. Applying judicial code of conduct to administrative law judges. 

Sec. 103. Compensation for claimant representatives. 

Sec. 104. Minimum monthly withholding to recover overpayments. 

Sec. 105. Disqualification on receipt of disability insurance benefits in a month 

for which unemployment compensation is received. 

Sec. 106. Elimination of reconsideration review application stages. 

Sec. 107. Report on hiring new administrative law judges and staff. 

TITLE II—ELIGIBILITY 

Sec. 201. Updating of medical-vocational guidelines. 

Sec. 202. Review of social media activity. 

Sec. 203. Updating data on work which exists in national economy. 

TITLE III—CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS 

Sec. 301. Study on impact of medical review standard. 

Sec. 302. Additional training relating to MIRS exceptions. 

Sec. 303. Increased frequency of continuing disability reviews. 

Sec. 304. Communication relating to termination of benefits. 

Sec. 305. Communication relating to reporting requirements. 

TITLE IV—BENEFITS 

Sec. 401. Establishment of annual poverty guideline based disability insurance 

benefits. 

Sec. 402. Retroactive payment of benefits. 

Sec. 403. Inclusion of unearned income in determination of substantial gainful 

activity. 

1 TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE 

2 CHANGES 

3 SEC. 101. STRENGTHENING THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 

4 JUDGE QUALITY REVIEW PROCESS. 

5 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Divi7 sion of Quality of the Office of Appellate Operations of 

8 the Social Security Administration shall conduct a review 

9 of a sample of determinations that individuals are entitled 

10 to disability insurance benefits by outlier administrative 


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1 law judges and identify any determinations that are not 

2 supported by the evidence. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than December 1 of each 

4 year in which a review described in subsection (a) is con5 ducted, the Division of Quality Review of the Office of Ap6 pellate Operations of the Social Security Administration 

7 shall submit a report containing the results of such review, 

8 including all determinations that were found to be unsup9 ported by the evidence, together with any recommenda10 tions for administrative action or proposed legislation that 

11 the Division determines appropriate, to— 

12 (1) the Inspector General of the Social Security 

13 Administration; 

14 (2) the Commissioner of the Social Security Ad15 ministration; 

16 (3) the Committees on Ways and Means and 

17 Oversight and Reform of the House of Representa18 tives; and 

19 (4) the Committees on Finance and Homeland 

20 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

21 (c) DEFINITION OF OUTLIER ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

22 JUDGE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘outlier 

23 administrative law judge’’ means an administrative law 

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1 view of the Social Security Administration who, in a given 

2 year— 

3 (1) determines that the applicant is entitled to 

4 disability insurance benefits more often than 90 per5 cent, or less often than 10 percent, of administrative 

6 law judges making determinations under this title; 

7 or 

8 (2) issues more decisions than 90 percent, or 

9 less decisions than 10 percent, of administrative law 

10 judges making determinations under this title. 

11 SEC. 102. APPLYING JUDICIAL CODE OF CONDUCT TO AD12 MINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3105 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘Each agency’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘(a) Each agency’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) The Code of Conduct for United States Judges 

19 adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States 

20 shall apply to administrative law judges appointed under 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(c) If, in applying a standard of conduct to an ad23 ministrative law judge appointed under this section, there 

24 is a conflict between the Code of Conduct for United 


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1 States Judges and any other law or regulation, the stricter 

2 standard of conduct shall apply. 

3 ‘‘(d) Pursuant to section 7301, the President may 

4 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

5 subsections (b) and (c).’’. 

6 (b) LIMITATION ON REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Sec7 tion 1305 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘3105’’ and inserting ‘‘3105(a)’’. 

9 SEC. 103. COMPENSATION FOR CLAIMANT REPRESENTA10 TIVES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Social Security 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 406) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘REPRESENTATION OF CLAIMANTS

14 ‘‘SEC. 206. (a)(1) The Commissioner of Social Secu15 rity may prescribe rules and regulations governing the rec16 ognition of agents or other persons, other than attorneys 

17 as hereinafter provided, representing claimants before the 

18 Commissioner of Social Security, and may require of such 

19 agents or other persons, before being recognized as rep20 resentatives of claimants that they shall show that they 

21 are of good character and in good repute, possessed of 

22 the necessary qualifications to enable them to render such 

23 claimants valuable service, and otherwise competent to ad24 vise and assist such claimants in the presentation of their 

25 cases. An attorney in good standing who is admitted to 

26 practice before the highest court of the State, Territory, 


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1 District, or insular possession of his residence or before 

2 the Supreme Court of the United States or the inferior 

3 Federal courts, shall be entitled to represent claimants be4 fore the Commissioner of Social Security. 

5 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commis6 sioner, after due notice and opportunity for hearing— 

7 ‘‘(A) may refuse to recognize as a representa8 tive, and may disqualify a representative already rec9 ognized, any attorney who has been disbarred or 

10 suspended from any court or bar to which he or she 

11 was previously admitted to practice or who has been 

12 disqualified from participating in or appearing be13 fore any Federal program or agency, and 

14 ‘‘(B) may refuse to recognize, and may dis15 qualify, as a non-attorney representative any attor16 ney who has been disbarred or suspended from any 

17 court or bar to which he or she was previously ad18 mitted to practice. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Commissioner of Social Security may, after 

20 due notice and opportunity for hearing, suspend or pro21 hibit from further practice before the Commissioner any 

22 such person, agent, or attorney who refuses to comply with 

23 the Commissioner’s rules and regulations. 

24 ‘‘(b) In prescribing the rules and regulations de25 scribed in subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social SeVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4854.IH H4854

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1 curity may not prescribe any rules or regulations regard2 ing the permissible fees which may be charged for services 

3 performed in connection with any claim before the Com4 missioner of Social Security under this title or title XVI. 

5 In no case shall the Commissioner certify any amount for 

6 payment to any representative out of any benefits payable 

7 to a claimant under this title or title XVI.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XVI.— 

9 Section 1631(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1383(d)(2)) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) The provisions of section 206 shall apply to this 

14 part to the same extent as they apply in the case of title 

15 II.’’; and 

16 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub17 paragraph (B). 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply with respect to applications for 

20 benefits filed on or after January 1, 2020. 

21 SEC. 104. MINIMUM MONTHLY WITHHOLDING TO RECOVER 

22 OVERPAYMENTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Social 

24 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 404(a)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (A) as 

2 clause (i) of subparagraph (A); 

3 (2) in subparagraph (A)(i) (as so redesignated), 

4 by striking ‘‘With’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to clause 

5 (ii), with’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(ii) If the Commissioner determines that 

8 withholding the full amount of a monthly dis9 ability insurance benefit payment to which an 

10 individual is otherwise entitled under this title 

11 to recover an overpayment pursuant to this sec12 tion would defeat the purpose of this title, the 

13 Commissioner may withhold from such payment 

14 an amount that is less than such full amount 

15 but not less than 10 percent of such full 

16 amount.’’. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Commissioner of Social Se18 curity shall prescribe such regulations and make any con19 forming changes to regulations as the Commissioner de20 termines appropriate to carry out the amendments made 

21 by this subsection. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this subsection shall apply with respect to overpayments 

24 made on or after January 1, 2020. 


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1 SEC. 105. DISQUALIFICATION ON RECEIPT OF DISABILITY 

2 INSURANCE BENEFITS IN A MONTH FOR 

3 WHICH UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION IS 

4 RECEIVED. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(d)(4) of the Social 

6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(D)(i) If for any week ending within a month an 

9 individual is paid unemployment compensation, such indi10 vidual shall be deemed to have engaged in substantial 

11 gainful activity for such month. 

12 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term ‘unemploy13 ment compensation’ means— 

14 ‘‘(I) ‘regular compensation’, ‘extended com15 pensation’, and ‘additional compensation’ (as such 

16 terms are defined by section 205 of the Federal17 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 

18 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note)); and 

19 ‘‘(II) trade readjustment allowance under title 

20 II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et 

21 seq.).’’. 

22 (b) TRIAL WORK PERIOD.—Section 222(c) of the So23 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 422(c)) is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this subsection, an individual 

26 shall be deemed to have rendered services in a month if 


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1 the individual is paid unemployment compensation for any 

2 week ending within such month. 

3 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

4 ‘unemployment compensation’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) ‘regular compensation’, ‘extended com6 pensation’, and ‘additional compensation’ (as such 

7 terms are defined by section 205 of the Federal8 State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act 

9 (26 U.S.C. 3304 note)); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) trade readjustment allowance under title II 

11 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et 

12 seq.).’’. 

13 (c) DATA MATCHING.—The Commissioner of Social 

14 Security shall implement the amendments made by this 

15 section using appropriate electronic data. 

16 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who ini18 tially apply for disability insurance benefits on or after 

19 January 1, 2020, and are paid unemployment compensa20 tion for any week ending on or after January 1, 2020. 

21 SEC. 106. ELIMINATION OF RECONSIDERATION REVIEW AP22 PLICATION STAGES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(b) of the Social Secu24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

2 following new sentence: ‘‘Opportunity for a hearing 

3 under this title in accordance with this subsection 

4 with respect to any initial decision or determination 

5 under this title shall be available without any re6 quirement for intervening reconsideration.’’; 

7 (2) by striking paragraph (2); 

8 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para9 graph (2); and 

10 (4) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), by 

11 striking ‘‘or an adverse determination on reconsider12 ation of such an initial determination’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title II of such 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), as amended by subsection 

15 (a), is further amended— 

16 (1) in section 201(j), by striking ‘‘reconsider17 ation interviews and’’; and 

18 (2) in section 221(i)(3)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘reconsideration of such 

20 initial termination or’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘reconsideration or’’ before 

22 ‘‘hearing’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply with respect to any initial deter25 mination of entitlement to a benefit under title II of the 


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1 Social Security Act made on or after the date that is one 

2 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 107. REPORT ON HIRING NEW ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 

4 JUDGES AND STAFF. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 

7 shall submit to Congress a report that includes an esti8 mate of the number of new administrative law judges and 

9 support staff that the Commissioner determines would be 

10 necessary to make a final decision on the entitlement of 

11 each individual for a disability insurance benefit under 

12 title II of the Social Security Act not later than 6 months 

13 after the date on which such individual applies for such 

14 benefits. 

15 TITLE II—ELIGIBILITY 

16 SEC. 201. UPDATING OF MEDICAL-VOCATIONAL GUIDE17 LINES. 

18 As soon as possible after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall pre20 scribe rules and regulations that update the medical-voca21 tional guidelines, as set forth in appendix 2 to subpart 

22 P of part 404 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, 

23 used in disability determinations, including full consider24 ation of removing non-medical factors no longer relevant 

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1 vances in treatment, rehabilitation, and technology and 

2 full consideration of the effect of prevalent languages on 

3 education. 

4 SEC. 202. REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(b)(1) of the Social 

6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(b)(1)), as amended by sec7 tion 110(a), is further amended by inserting after the sec8 ond sentence the following: ‘‘In making any initial deter9 mination of disability under this title, the Commissioner 

10 of Social Security shall consider any relevant evidence 

11 from social media of which the Commissioner is made 

12 aware prior to issuing a decision involving such determina13 tion.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 

16 disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 

17 2020. 

18 SEC. 203. UPDATING DATA ON WORK WHICH EXISTS IN NA19 TIONAL ECONOMY. 

20 Not later than 5 years after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the Commis22 sioner of Social Security shall— 

23 (1) update the data used by the Commissioner 

24 to determine the jobs which exist in the national 

25 economy (within the meaning of section 


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1 223(d)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 423(d)(2)(A))), to ensure that such data reflects the 

3 full range of work which exists in the national econ4 omy, including newly-created jobs in emerging indus5 tries; and 

6 (2) submit to Congress a report describing each 

7 such update. 

8 TITLE III—CONTINUING 

9 DISABILITY REVIEWS 

10 SEC. 301. STUDY ON IMPACT OF MEDICAL REVIEW STAND11 ARD. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social Secu13 rity shall conduct a study with respect to a large number 

14 of beneficiaries— 

15 (1) to determine whether the Social Security 

16 Administration would consider such beneficiaries to 

17 be disabled using the Initial Disability Standard 

18 rather than the Medical Improvement Review Stand19 ard (MIRS) during continuing disability reviews; 

20 and 

21 (2) to analyze the cause of any difference of re22 sult between the two standards. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 


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1 Security shall submit a report to Congress on the study 

2 described in subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 302. ADDITIONAL TRAINING RELATING TO MIRS EX4 CEPTIONS. 

5 The Commissioner of Social Security shall— 

6 (1) provide training, as the Commissioner de7 termines to be appropriate, to employees of State 

8 disability determination services and to Federal per9 sonnel involved in making disability determinations 

10 on the application of exceptions to the Medical Im11 provement Review Standard (MIRS) during con12 tinuing disability reviews; and 

13 (2) establish a procedure by which such employ14 ees and Federal personnel may request assistance 

15 from the Social Security Administration in the appli16 cation of such exceptions. 

17 SEC. 303. INCREASED FREQUENCY OF CONTINUING DIS18 ABILITY REVIEWS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(i) of the Social Secu20 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 421(i)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘every 3 years’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘every year’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘at such times as the Com25 missioner of Social Security determines to be 


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1 appropriate’’ and inserting ‘‘at least every 5 

2 years’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘every 3 

4 years’’ and inserting ‘‘once every year’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 

7 disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 

8 2020. 

9 SEC. 304. COMMUNICATION RELATING TO TERMINATION 

10 OF BENEFITS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social Secu12 rity shall ensure that each award letter informing an indi13 vidual of the individual’s initial entitlement to disability 

14 insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act 

15 includes— 

16 (1) a description of all of the conditions under 

17 which such benefits may be terminated; and 

18 (2) except in any case in which a finding has 

19 been made that the individual’s disability is perma20 nent, an explanation that disability insurance bene21 fits are temporary and that the individual is ex22 pected to return to work after medical improvement 

23 has occurred. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

25 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to individuals who 


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1 become entitled to disability insurance benefits on or after 

2 January 1, 2020. 

3 SEC. 305. COMMUNICATION RELATING TO REPORTING RE4 QUIREMENTS. 

5 The Commissioner of Social Security shall ensure 

6 that each communication from the Social Security Admin7 istration made to an individual entitled to disability insur8 ance benefits includes a description of the individual’s re9 sponsibility to report to the Commissioner of Social Secu10 rity any change of circumstance that may affect the indi11 vidual’s entitlement to such benefits. 

12 TITLE IV—BENEFITS 

13 SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF ANNUAL POVERTY GUIDE14 LINE BASED DISABILITY INSURANCE BENE15 FITS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(a) of the Social Secu17 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(2)) is amended by inserting 

18 after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) In the case of an individual who initially 

20 becomes entitled to disability benefits in the calendar 

21 year 2020 or any subsequent calendar year, and ex22 cept as provided in section 202(q) of this title, such 

23 individual’s disability insurance benefit for any 

24 month shall be one-twelfth of the most recently pub25 lished annual poverty guideline for an individual (as 


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1 updated annually in the Fed. Reg. by the Depart2 ment of Health and Human Services under the au3 thority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 

4 Reconciliation Act of 1981).’’. 

5 (b) EARLY RETIREMENT BENEFIT REDUCTION.— 

6 Section 202(q)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 423(a)(2)) is amended by striking subsection (q)(2) and 

8 replacing it with the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) If an individual is entitled to a disability 

10 insurance benefit for a month after a month for 

11 which such individual was entitled to an old-age in12 surance benefit, such disability insurance benefit for 

13 each month shall be— 

14 ‘‘(A) if such individual initially became en15 titled to disability benefits in any calendar year 

16 before 2020, reduced by the amount such old17 age insurance benefit would be reduced under 

18 paragraphs (1) and (4) for such month had 

19 such individual attained retirement age (as de20 fined in section 416(l) of this title) in the first 

21 month for which he most recently became enti22 tled to a disability insurance benefit; or 

23 ‘‘(B) if such individual initially became en24 titled to disability benefits in the calendar year 

25 2020 or any subsequent calendar year, equal to 


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1 the higher of the individual’s reduced old-age 

2 insurance benefit under paragraph (1) and the 

3 individual’s disability insurance benefit under 

4 section 423(a)(3).’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 223(a)(2) 

6 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(2)) is amend7 ed by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting ‘‘In the case of an 

8 individual who initially becomes entitled for disability ben9 efits in any calendar year before 2020, and except’’. 

10 SEC. 402. RETROACTIVE PAYMENT OF BENEFITS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(b) of the Social Secu12 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 423(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘12th 

13 month’’ and inserting ‘‘6th month’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 

16 disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 

17 2020. 

18 SEC. 403. INCLUSION OF UNEARNED INCOME IN DETER19 MINATION OF SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL ACTIV20 ITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(d)(4) of the Social 

22 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)), as amended by sec23 tion 3(b), is further amended by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(D)(i) If the amount of unearned income (as defined 

2 in section 1612) of an individual for a month is equal to 

3 or greater than the monthly income limit for such month, 

4 the individual shall be deemed to have engaged in substan5 tial gainful activity for such month. 

6 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the monthly 

7 income limit is the amount of earnings derived from serv8 ices, prescribed by the Commissioner under regulations 

9 issued pursuant to subparagraph (A), sufficient to dem10 onstrate an individual’s ability to engage in substantial 

11 gainful activity for a month.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to monthly insur14 ance benefits paid for months beginning after the date 

15 that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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