I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3482 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to implement various reforms 

to the social security disability insurance program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to implement 

various reforms to the social security disability insurance 

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 ‘‘Disability Insurance 

5 Protection and Fraud Prevention Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF COOPERATIVE DISABILITY INVES7 TIGATIONS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 


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1 of the Social Security Administration shall increase the 

2 number of cooperative disability investigative units to 54. 

3 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—The Inspector General shall lo4 cate the cooperative disability investigative units estab5 lished pursuant to subsection (a) in such manner as to 

6 ensure that such units are distributed equally among the 

7 most densely populated areas of the Nation. 

8 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN CRITERIA FOR THE DE9 TERMINATION OF DISABILITY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether an indi11 vidual is under a disability for purposes of section 223 

12 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423), the Commis13 sioner of Social Security— 

14 (1) may not consider an individual as approach15 ing advanced age (as applicable for purposes of sec16 tion 404.1563 of title 20, Code of Federal Regula17 tions, as in effect on the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act), unless the individual has attained the age 

19 of 58; 

20 (2) may not consider an individual as having 

21 attained advanced age (as so applicable) unless the 

22 individual has attained the age of 61; and 

23 (3) may not consider the individual’s inability 

24 to communicate in English as a vocational factor (as 


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1 applicable for purposes of section 404.1564 of such 

2 title). 

3 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

5 of Social Security shall issue regulations to implement 

6 subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 4. COMBINED EFFECT OF IMPAIRMENTS NOT CONSID8 ERED IN DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS. 

9 (a) TITLE II DETERMINATIONS.—Section 223(d)(2) 

10 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(2)) is amend11 ed by striking subparagraph (B) and redesignating sub12 paragraph (C) as subparagraph (B). 

13 (b) TITLE XVI DETERMINATIONS.—Section 

14 1614(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)(3)) is amend15 ed by striking subparagraph (G) and redesignating subse16 quent subparagraphs accordingly. 

17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 216(i)(1) 

18 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 416(i)(1)) is amended by striking 

19 ‘‘paragraphs (2)(A),(2)(B),(3),’’ and inserting ‘‘para20 graphs (2)(A), (3),’’. 

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

22 this section shall take effect on the day that is 90 days 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. MANDATORY FUNDING FOR CONTINUING DIS2 ABILITY REVIEWS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(g)(1)(A) of the Social 

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 

5 striking ‘‘Of the amounts authorized to be made available’’ 

6 and all that follows through ‘‘for fiscal year 2002, 

7 $720,000,000.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘There is 

8 hereby appropriated for continuing disability reviews such 

9 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2016 

10 through 2020.’’. 

11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the end 

12 of fiscal year 2018, the Commissioner of Social Security 

13 shall submit a report to Congress that includes an assess14 ment of the amount of savings attained as a result of the 

15 amendment made by subsection (a) in the Federal dis16 ability insurance program under title II of the Social Secu17 rity Act and the Supplemental Security Income program 

18 under title XVI of such Act. 

19 SEC. 6. DISABILITY DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM DESIGN 

20 REPORT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 

23 Security shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

24 design of a demonstration program that would meet the 

25 specifications in subsection (b), including recommendaVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:07 Sep 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3482.IH H3482

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1 tions for any legislative changes necessary to implement 

2 such a program. 

3 (b) GOALS.—In order to improve the well-being of 

4 certain social security disability insurance applicants while 

5 also achieving near-term program cost neutrality and long6 term cost savings, the Commissioner shall screen such ap7 plicants and target those who appear likely to be deter8 mined eligible for benefits but who also have the potential 

9 for significant work activity if provided with a range of 

10 services to be determined by the Commissioner. In ex11 change for suspending their social security disability in12 surance program application, these applicants would be of13 fered a package of benefits, including targeted vocational 

14 and health interventions, wage subsidies based on how 

15 much the applicants can work and earn, and, if appro16 priate, an emergency cash diversion grant. 

17 SEC. 7. STATE DISABILITY REFORM DEMONSTRATION PRO18 GRAM REPORT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 

21 Security shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

22 design of a demonstration program that would meet the 

23 specifications in subsection (b), including recommenda24 tions for any legislative changes necessary to implement 

25 such a program. 


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1 (b) GOALS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social 

3 Security shall work with the States to determine 

4 whether, if appropriate changes were made in the 

5 law, the existing funding streams for specific popu6 lations, such as vocational rehabilitation funding, 

7 Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, 

8 and workers’ compensation, could be modified to be 

9 delivered in a more coordinated manner to improve 

10 outcomes and reduce participation in supplemental 

11 security income or social security disability insur12 ance. 

13 (2) INCENTIVE FUNDING.—States who success14 fully implemented such a program shall receive in15 centive funding to be determined by the Commis16 sioner and subject to appropriations. 

17 (c) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section, 

18 the term ‘‘specific populations’’ means populations identi19 fied by the Commissioner of Social Security as likely to 

20 receive a lifetime of supplemental security income or social 

21 security disability insurance. 

22 SEC. 8. EMPLOYERS DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM REPORT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

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

25 Security shall submit to Congress a report describing the 


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1 design of a demonstration program that would meet the 

2 specifications in subsection (b), including recommenda3 tions for any legislative changes necessary to implement 

4 such a program. 

5 (b) GOALS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to encourage em7 ployers to reduce the incidence of disability among 

8 their employees by 20 percent, the Commissioner of 

9 Social Security shall create a voluntary program for 

10 employers that would provide such employers with a 

11 tax credit with respect to social security disability in12 surance taxes if the employees of such employer do 

13 not file for social security disability insurance. 

14 (2) BASELINE.—For each employer who volun15 teers to participate in the program, the Commission 

16 of Social Security shall determine a baseline pre17 dicted rate of social security disability insurance en18 rollment. 

19 (3) EMPLOYEES TRACKED FOR PROGRAM.— 

20 Employees employed on the date the employer en21 rolled in the program shall be tracked for a period 

22 of 3 years beginning on the date of enrollment in the 

23 program, whether or not they remain employed by 

24 such employer. If any such employee becomes eligi25 ble for social security disability insurance during 


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1 such period, the employer’s disability insurance par2 ticipation rate shall be affected. 

3 (4) INCENTIVE.—At the end of the period, the 

4 employer’s disability insurance participation rate 

5 shall be compared to the baseline, and if the partici6 pation rate has fallen by at least 20 percent, the em7 ployer shall receive a social security disability insur8 ance tax credit of 75 percent of the disability insur9 ance cost savings during the period. 

Æ 


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