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Supplemental Security Income: SSA Needs a Uniform Standard for Assessing Childhood Disability

HEHS-98-123 Published: May 06, 1998. Publicly Released: May 06, 1998.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided additional information on the Social Security Administration's (SSA) implementation of the new eligibility standard.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Social Security Administration In view of the fact that many of SSA's medical listings for children are outdated and allow eligibility to be based upon multiple standards of severity, the Commissioner of Social Security should immediately update and modify its medical listings to incorporate advances in medicine and science and to reflect a uniform standard of severity.
Closed – Implemented
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is in the process of reviewing all its medical listings both for adults and children. SSA has stated that as it reviews the medical listings to bring them up-to-date with medical advances in diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation therapy, it will ensure that the revised childhood listings describe impairments that cause marked and severe functional limitations. SSA has revised or started to revise all of its childhood listings.

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Topics

ChildrenChildren with disabilitiesDisability benefitsEligibility criteriaEligibility determinationsIncome maintenance programsMental illnessesSocial security benefitsSupplemental security incomeDisabilities