I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7276 
To prohibit the Social Security Administration from reinstating the reconsid-
eration level of appeal for disability determinations in the 10 prototype 
States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 12, 2018 
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To prohibit the Social Security Administration from rein-
stating the reconsideration level of appeal for disability 
determinations in the 10 prototype States, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PROHIBITING SSA FROM REINSTATING THE RE-
CONSIDERATION LEVEL OF APPEAL FOR DIS-
ABILITY DETERMINATIONS IN THE 10 PROTO-
TYPE STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity shall not reinstate reconsideration of an initial dis-
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ability determination by the Disability Determination 
Services of Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Michi-
gan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, 
or California (Los Angeles North and Los Angeles West 
Branches). 
(b) IMPROVING THE RECONSIDERATION LEVEL OF 
REVIEW FOR DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Commissioner of Social Security shall submit to the 
applicable committees a detailed plan to— 
(A) improve the reconsideration level of re-
view for disability determinations; and 
(B) decrease case processing time for ini-
tial disability determinations and appeals. 
(2) INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS AND OTHER 
EXPERTS.—For purposes of developing the plan de-
scribed in paragraph (1), the Commissioner of Social 
Security shall include information and input from— 
(A) the Chairman of the Administrative 
Conference of the United States; 
(B) disability advocates and stakeholders 
through a National Disability Forum, as well as 
other outreach methods; 
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(C) data collected from the 1997 Disability 
Redesign Prototype model, including the elimi-
nation of the reconsideration step of the admin-
istrative review process for disability determina-
tions in the 10 prototype States; and 
(D) scholarly experts as well as peer-re-
viewed disability or administrative review stud-
ies published by academic or non-profit research 
institutions. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPLICABLE COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘ap-
plicable committees’’ means the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate, and the Committee on Finance of the Sen-
ate. 
(2) INITIAL DISABILITY DETERMINATION.—The 
term ‘‘initial disability determination’’ means a de-
termination made by a State Disability Determina-
tion Services office in regards to whether an indi-
vidual is disabled for purposes of any benefits under 
title II or XVI of the Social Security Act based on 
such individual’s status as disabled. 
Æ 
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