II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 656 

To help individuals receiving disability insurance benefits under title II of 

the Social Security Act obtain rehabilitative services and return to the 

workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. LEE, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To help individuals receiving disability insurance benefits 

under title II of the Social Security Act obtain rehabilitative services and return to the workforce, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Social Security Disability Insurance Return to Work Act 

6 of 2017’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Revising disability classifications. 

Sec. 3. Requiring periodic continuing disability reviews for certain beneficiaries. 

Sec. 4. Regulations related to disability classifications and CDRs. 

Sec. 5. Time-limiting disability benefits for MIE and MIL individuals. 

Sec. 6. Encouraging work by MIE and MIL individuals. 

Sec. 7. Increased funding for continuing disability reviews. 

1 SEC. 2. REVISING DISABILITY CLASSIFICATIONS. 

2 Section 221 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 421) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subsection: 

5 ‘‘(n)(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

6 enactment of this subsection, the Commissioner of Social 

7 Security shall establish a system for classifying any indi8 vidual who is determined to be entitled to disability insur9 ance benefits under this title or to monthly benefits under 

10 section 202 by reason of being under a disability in the 

11 following manner: 

12 ‘‘(A) An individual shall be classified as ‘med13 ical improvement expected’ if the impairment or 

14 combination of impairments causing the individual 

15 to be disabled is expected to medically improve to 

16 the point where the individual will no longer be dis17 abled in 12 to 24 months. 

18 ‘‘(B) An individual shall be classified as ‘med19 ical improvement likely’ if the impairment or com20 bination of impairments causing the individual to be 

21 disabled is expected to medically improve to the 


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1 point where the individual will no longer be disabled 

2 in 25 months to 60 months. 

3 ‘‘(C) An individual shall be classified as ‘med4 ical improvement possible’ if the impairment or com5 bination of impairments causing the individual to be 

6 disabled is not expected to medically improve to the 

7 point where the individual will no longer be disabled 

8 in 60 months, but future improvement is possible. 

9 ‘‘(D) An individual shall be classified as ‘med10 ical improvement not expected’ if the individual has 

11 an impairment or combination of impairments that 

12 is chronic or progressive with permanent, irreversible 

13 structural or functional loss, and for which there is 

14 no known effective therapy, treatment, or surgical 

15 intervention that could result in medical improve16 ment to the point where the individual is no longer 

17 disabled. 

18 ‘‘(2) In classifying an individual under the system es19 tablished under this subsection, the Commissioner of So20 cial Security shall not classify an individual as ‘medical 

21 improvement not expected’ solely by reason of such indi22 vidual’s age where a lesser classification is appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 205(b)(1) or subsection 

24 (c)(1) or (d) of this section, there shall be no review of, 


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1 or right to appeal, a classification made under the system 

2 established under this subsection.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REQUIRING PERIODIC CONTINUING DISABILITY RE4 VIEWS FOR CERTAIN BENEFICIARIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(i) of the Social Secu6 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 421(i)) is amended— 

7 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(1)(A) In the case of any individual who has not 

10 attained age 63, is determined to be under a disability, 

11 and is classified as ‘medical improvement possible’ or 

12 ‘medical improvement not expected’, the applicable State 

13 agency or the Commissioner of Social Security (as may 

14 be appropriate) shall, for purposes of determining such in15 dividual’s continuing disability— 

16 ‘‘(i) if the individual is classified as ‘medical im17 provement possible’, conduct a review to determine 

18 whether the individual remains under a disability 

19 during the 5th year following the first month after 

20 the individual’s waiting period (as defined in section 

21 223(c)(2)); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) if the individual is classified as ‘medical 

23 improvement not expected’, conduct a review to de24 termine whether the individual remains under a dis25 ability during the 10th year following the first 


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1 month after the individual’s waiting period (as so 

2 defined). 

3 ‘‘(B) In addition to the continuing disability reviews 

4 required under subparagraph (A) and notwithstanding 

5 how an individual is classified under the system estab6 lished by the Commissioner of Social Security under sub7 section (n), if the Commissioner has reason to believe that 

8 an individual that has been determined to be under a dis9 ability is not under a disability, the Commissioner may 

10 review such individual’s case at such time and in such 

11 manner as the Commissioner determines appropriate ex12 cept that the Commissioner shall not initiate a review on 

13 the basis of income earned by an individual who is a par14 ticipant in the process established under section 223(l). 

15 ‘‘(C) Reviews of cases which are required or per16 mitted under this paragraph shall be in addition to, and 

17 shall not be considered as a substitute for, any other re18 views which are required or provided for under or in the 

19 administration of this title.’’; 

20 (2) by striking paragraph (2); and 

21 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

22 (5) as paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively. 

23 (b) STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR CONTINUING DIS24 ABILITY REVIEWS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(f) of the Social 

2 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(f)) is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

6 following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(5) in the case of a continuing disability re8 view under section 221(i), evidence that would be 

9 sufficient to support a finding in an initial deter10 mination that the individual is not under a disability 

11 and is able to engage in substantial gainful activ12 ity.’’; and 

13 (C) in the flush matter at the end, by in14 serting ‘‘, except that, in the case of a con15 tinuing disability review under section 221(i), 

16 the Commissioner shall not consider the fact 

17 that an individual is engaged in substantial 

18 gainful work as part of the process established 

19 under subsection (l) as evidence that the indi20 vidual is able to engage in substantial gainful 

21 activity’’ after ‘‘secured by the Commissioner of 

22 Social Security’’. 

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION

24 OF DISABILITY.—Section 223(d)(2) of the Social Se25 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘An 

2 individual’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subpara3 graph (D), an individual’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

5 subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) In the case of a continuing disability re7 view under section 221(i), an individual may be 

8 found to be under a disability even though the indi9 vidual is engaged in substantial gainful work as part 

10 of the process established under subsection (l).’’. 

11 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS RELATED TO DISABILITY CLASSI12 FICATIONS AND CDRS. 

13 The Commissioner of Social Security shall promul14 gate or revise, as appropriate, regulations relating to the 

15 determination, classification, and review of the disability 

16 status of individuals who apply for or receive disability in17 surance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act 

18 and related provisions of agency guidance to carry out sec19 tion 2 and the amendments made by section 3. 

20 SEC. 5. TIME-LIMITING DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR MIE AND 

21 MIL INDIVIDUALS. 

22 Section 223 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 423) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)(1), in the flush language 

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1 section (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e) and (k)’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘Time-Limited Disability Benefits 

6 ‘‘(k)(1) In the case of an individual who files an appli7 cation for disability insurance benefits under this section 

8 or for monthly benefits under section 202 by reason of 

9 being under a disability for any month that begins on or 

10 after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enact11 ment of the Social Security Disability Insurance Return 

12 to Work Act of 2017, is determined to be under a dis13 ability, and is classified by the Commissioner of Social Se14 curity as ‘medical improvement expected’ or ‘medical im15 provement likely’, the termination month applicable to the 

16 individual shall be— 

17 ‘‘(A) if the individual has been classified as 

18 ‘medical improvement expected’, the 23rd month fol19 lowing the first month after the individual’s waiting 

20 period (as defined in subsection (c)(2)); or 

21 ‘‘(B) if the individual has been classified as 

22 ‘medical improvement likely’, the 59th month fol23 lowing the first month after the individual’s waiting 

24 period (as so defined). 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

2 ‘timely reapplication’ means an application for disability 

3 insurance benefits under this section or for monthly bene4 fits under section 202 by reason of being under a disability 

5 that is submitted— 

6 ‘‘(I) by an individual who is a recipient of such 

7 benefits; and 

8 ‘‘(II) during the period that is 14 months be9 fore the end of the termination month applicable (or 

10 most recently applicable) to the individual under 

11 paragraph (1) as of the date of such application and 

12 ending with the date that is 12 months before the 

13 end of such termination month. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), the Commissioner of 

15 Social Security may deem an application for disability in16 surance benefits under this section or for monthly benefits 

17 under section 202 by reason of being under a disability 

18 submitted by an individual who is a recipient of such bene19 fits that is submitted after the period described in clause 

20 (i)(II) to be a timely reapplication if— 

21 ‘‘(I) the individual can show good cause for why 

22 the application was not submitted during such pe23 riod; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the application is submitted not later than 

25 6 months before the end of the termination month 


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1 applicable (or most recently applicable) to the indi2 vidual under paragraph (1) as of the date of such 

3 application. 

4 ‘‘(B)(i) An individual who submits a timely reapplica5 tion and who is determined to be under a disability shall 

6 be deemed to have satisfied the waiting period applicable 

7 under subsection (c)(2). 

8 ‘‘(ii)(I) If the Commissioner of Social Security fails 

9 to make an initial determination with respect to the timely 

10 reapplication of an individual who is a recipient of dis11 ability insurance benefits under this section or monthly 

12 benefits under section 202 by reason of being under a dis13 ability before the end of the termination month applicable 

14 to the individual as of the date of such reapplication, such 

15 individual shall continue to be entitled to such benefits 

16 until an initial determination with respect to such timely 

17 reapplication is made. 

18 ‘‘(II) If the Commissioner of Social Security makes 

19 an initial adverse determination with respect to the timely 

20 reapplication of an individual who is a recipient of dis21 ability insurance benefits under this section or monthly 

22 benefits under section 202 by reason of being under a dis23 ability and such individual files a timely request for a 

24 hearing under section 221(d), such individual may elect 

25 to have the payment of such benefits (as well as any other 


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1 benefits payable under this title or title XVIII on the basis 

2 of such individual’s entitlement to such benefits) continue 

3 in the same manner and subject to the same conditions 

4 as an election made under subsection (g). 

5 ‘‘(C) For purposes of reviewing a timely reapplication 

6 submitted by an individual who is a recipient of disability 

7 insurance benefits under this section or monthly benefits 

8 under section 202 by reason of being under a disability— 

9 ‘‘(i) the fact that the individual was previously 

10 found to be under a disability shall have no evi11 dentiary weight; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the fact that the individual participated in 

13 the process established under subsection (l) may be 

14 taken into account for purposes of determining 

15 whether such individual is under a disability; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) subsection (f) shall not apply.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING WORK BY MIE AND MIL INDIVID18 UALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223 of the Social Security 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 423), as amended by section 5, is further 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘section 

23 202(q) and section 215(b)(2)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘subsection (l) and sections 202(q) and 

25 215(b)(2)(A)(ii)’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘Treatment of Work Performed by Certain Disabled 

4 Individuals 

5 ‘‘(l)(1) The Commissioner of Social Security shall es6 tablish a process whereby an eligible individual who is enti7 tled to a disability insurance benefit under this section 

8 may elect to return to employment and receive an adjusted 

9 disability insurance benefit amount (as determined pursu10 ant to paragraph (3)). 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘eli12 gible individual’ means an individual who has been classi13 fied as ‘medical improvement expected’ or ‘medical im14 provement likely’. 

15 ‘‘(B) Participation by an eligible individual in the 

16 process established under this subsection shall be sus17 pended if such individual has no reported wages or self18 employment income for the 4 preceding calendar quarters 

19 (as defined in section 213(a)(1)). 

20 ‘‘(3)(A) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the 

21 amount of the disability insurance benefit provided to an 

22 eligible individual who has elected to return to employment 

23 for any month shall be equal to— 

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1 graph (B)) equal to or less than the level of monthly 

2 earnings established by the Commissioner to rep3 resent substantial gainful activity, the amount other4 wise applicable for such individual under subsection 

5 (a)(2); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of individual who has average 

7 monthly earnings (as determined under subpara8 graph (B)) that are in excess of the level of monthly 

9 earnings established by the Commissioner to rep10 resent substantial gainful activity, the amount of the 

11 disability insurance benefit that would otherwise 

12 apply for such individual under subsection (a)(2) re13 duced (but not below zero) by an amount equal to 

14 50 percent of the excess of such individual’s average 

15 monthly earnings over the level of monthly earnings 

16 established by the Commissioner to represent sub17 stantial gainful activity. 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) The average monthly earnings for an eligible 

19 individual shall be equal to the quotient of— 

20 ‘‘(I) the total amount of wages and self-employ21 ment income for such individual in any eligible 

22 months during the 2 calendar quarters (as defined 

23 in section 213(a)(1)) that precede the most recently 

24 completed calendar quarter, and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the total number of eligible months during 

2 such 2-calendar-quarter period. 

3 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term ‘eligible 

4 month’ means any month subsequent to the month in 

5 which an eligible individual became entitled to a disability 

6 insurance benefit. 

7 ‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (3)(B), wages and 

8 self-employment income of an individual shall be deter9 mined based on relevant information for such individual 

10 as provided by the State agency responsible for the admin11 istration of State unemployment compensation law. 

12 ‘‘(5) For purposes of an eligible individual who has 

13 elected to return to employment under this subsection, any 

14 services performed or earnings derived from services dur15 ing the period of such participation shall not be considered 

16 for purposes of demonstrating an individual’s ability to en17 gage in substantial gainful activity under subsection (d)(4) 

18 and shall not be considered substantial gainful activity for 

19 purposes of subsection (e). 

20 ‘‘(6) For purposes of this title, the disability insur21 ance benefit received by an individual under this sub22 section shall not be applied for purposes of determining 

23 any monthly benefits payable to any other individuals enti24 tled to benefits for any month based on the wages and 

25 self-employment income of such individual.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 221(m)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 421(m)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(unless such indi4 vidual is participating in the process established under 

5 section 223(l))’’ before the period. 

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

7 this section shall apply to benefits payable for months be8 ginning after October 1, 2018. 

9 SEC. 7. INCREASED FUNDING FOR CONTINUING DISABILITY 

10 REVIEWS. 

11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for any 

12 calendar year after 2018— 

13 (1) the Commissioner of Social Security shall 

14 determine the amount of any reduction in expendi15 tures from the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

16 Fund (as defined in section 201(b) of the Social Se17 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 401(b))) during the preceding 

18 calendar year by reason of the provisions of this Act 

19 and the amendments made by this Act; and 

20 (2) 10 percent of the amount determined under 

21 paragraph (1) shall be authorized to be made avail22 able from the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

23 Fund for continuing disability reviews (as defined in 


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1 section 201(g)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 401(g)(1)(A))). 

Æ 


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