Social Security Act made on or after the date that is one 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 107. REPORT ON HIRING NEW ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 
JUDGES AND STAFF. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 
shall submit to Congress a report that includes an esti-
mate of the number of new administrative law judges and 
support staff that the Commissioner determines would be 
necessary to make a final decision on the entitlement of 
each individual for a disability insurance benefit under 
title II of the Social Security Act not later than 6 months 
after the date on which such individual applies for such 
benefits. 
TITLE II—ELIGIBILITY 
SEC. 201. UPDATING OF MEDICAL-VOCATIONAL GUIDE-
LINES. 
As soon as possible after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall pre-
scribe rules and regulations that update the medical-voca-
tional guidelines, as set forth in appendix 2 to subpart 
P of part 404 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, 
used in disability determinations, including full consider-
ation of new employment opportunities made possible by 
advances in treatment, rehabilitation, and technology and 
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full consideration of the effect of prevalent languages on 
education. 
SEC. 202. REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(b)(1) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(b)(1)), as amended by sec-
tion 110(a), is further amended by inserting after the sec-
ond sentence the following: ‘‘In making any initial deter-
mination of disability under this title, the Commissioner 
of Social Security shall consider any relevant evidence 
from social media of which the Commissioner is made 
aware prior to issuing a decision involving such determina-
tion.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 
disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 
2019. 
SEC. 203. UPDATING DATA ON WORK WHICH EXISTS IN NA-
TIONAL ECONOMY. 
Not later than 5 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the Commis-
sioner of Social Security shall— 
(1) update the data used by the Commissioner 
to determine the jobs which exist in the national 
economy 
(within 
the 
meaning 
of 
section 
223(d)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
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423(d)(2)(A))), to ensure that such data reflects the 
full range of work which exists in the national econ-
omy, including newly-created jobs in emerging indus-
tries; and 
(2) submit to Congress a report describing each 
such update. 
TITLE III—CONTINUING 
DISABILITY REVIEWS 
SEC. 301. STUDY ON IMPACT OF MEDICAL REVIEW STAND-
ARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity shall conduct a study with respect to a large number 
of beneficiaries— 
(1) to determine whether the Social Security 
Administration would consider such beneficiaries to 
be disabled using the Initial Disability Standard 
rather than the Medical Improvement Review Stand-
ard (MIRS) during continuing disability reviews; 
and 
(2) to analyze the cause of any difference of re-
sult between the two standards. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social 
Security shall submit a report to Congress on the study 
described in subsection (a). 
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SEC. 302. ADDITIONAL TRAINING RELATING TO MIRS EX-
CEPTIONS. 
The Commissioner of Social Security shall— 
(1) provide training, as the Commissioner de-
termines to be appropriate, to employees of State 
disability determination services and to Federal per-
sonnel involved in making disability determinations 
on the application of exceptions to the Medical Im-
provement Review Standard (MIRS) during con-
tinuing disability reviews; and 
(2) establish a procedure by which such employ-
ees and Federal personnel may request assistance 
from the Social Security Administration in the appli-
cation of such exceptions. 
SEC. 303. INCREASED FREQUENCY OF CONTINUING DIS-
ABILITY REVIEWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(i) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 421(i)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ‘‘3 
years’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2 
years’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘at such times 
as the Commissioner of Social Security determines 
to be appropriate’’ and inserting ‘‘at least every 7 
years’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to applications for 
disability insurance benefits filed on or after January 1, 
2019. 
SEC. 304. COMMUNICATION RELATING TO TERMINATION 
OF BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity shall ensure that each award letter informing an indi-
vidual of the individual’s initial entitlement to disability 
insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act 
includes— 
(1) a description of all of the conditions under 
which such benefits may be terminated; and 
(2) except in any case in which a finding has 
been made that the individual’s disability is perma-
nent, an explanation that disability insurance bene-
fits are temporary and that the individual is ex-
pected to return to work after medical improvement 
has occurred. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to individuals who 
become entitled to disability insurance benefits on or after 
January 1, 2019. 
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