[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 24769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10962]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2017-0016]


Rescission of Social Security Ruling 91-3p: Policy Interpretation 
Ruling Title II: Determining Entitlement to Disability Benefits for 
Months Prior to January 1991 for Widows, Widowers and Surviving 
Divorced Spouses Claims

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of rescission of Social Security Ruling, 91-3p.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 20 CFR 402.35(b)(1), the Acting 
Commissioner of Social Security gives notice of the rescission of 
Social Security Ruling (SSR) 91-3p.

DATES: Effective Date: This rescission will be effective May 30, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Grovich, Office of Disability 
Policy, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, 
Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, (410) 966-1696 or TTY 410-966-5609, for 
information about this notice. For information on eligibility or filing 
for benefits, call our national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 
1-800-325-0778, or visit our Internet site, Social Security Online, at 
http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through SSRs, we make available to the 
public precedential decisions relating to the Federal old-age, 
survivors, disability, supplemental security income, and special 
veterans benefits programs. We may base SSRs on determinations or 
decisions made at all levels of administrative adjudication, Federal 
court decisions, Commissioner's decisions, opinions of the Office of 
General Counsel, or other interpretations of the law and regulations.
    Widows, widowers, and surviving divorced spouses (hereinafter 
referred to as widows) who are disabled and between age 50 and 60 may 
be entitled to disability insurance benefits based on a deceased 
spouse's earnings record. We sometimes refer to these benefits as 
disabled widows' benefits or widows' disability benefits. Before 
Congress enacted the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 
1990,\1\ we used a special standard to determine disability in claims 
for disabled widows' benefits that differed from the standard we used 
in other title II disability claims. Section 5103 of OBRA \2\ amended 
the Social Security Act (Act) by making the standard used to determine 
disability for disabled widows' benefits payable in months after 
December 1990 identical to the standard used in other title II 
disability claims. However, we still used the special pre-OBRA standard 
to determine disability for disabled widows' benefits payable for 
months prior to January 1991.\3\
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    \1\ Public Law 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388.
    \2\ 104 Stat. at 1388-251.
    \3\ Section 5103(e) of Public Law 101-508, 104 Stat. at 1388-
253.
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    Between 1989 and 1991, several United States Courts of Appeals 
found that the pre-OBRA standard we used was underinclusive in its 
adjudicatory criteria, and that the Act required consideration of 
functional limitations in determining entitlement to disabled widow's 
benefits. As a result of those court decisions, we revaluated our 
interpretation of the pre-OBRA standard and published SSR 91-3p, which 
directed adjudicators to apply the interpretation of the pre-OBRA 
standard set out in the SSR when determining disability for disabled 
widows' benefits payable for months prior to January 1991.
    By statute, entitlement to disabled widows' benefits cannot be 
established more than 12 months prior to the filing of an application 
for such benefits.\4\ We are rescinding SSR 91-3p as obsolete because a 
new application for disabled widows' benefits cannot establish 
entitlement to these benefits prior to January 1991, and we have no 
pending applications that involve entitlement to disabled widows' 
benefits for months prior to January 1991.
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    \4\ 42 U.S.C. 402(j)(1)(A).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 96.001, Social 
Security-Retirement Insurance, and 96.004 Social Security-Survivors 
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Insurance)

Nancy A. Berryhill,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 2017-10962 Filed 5-26-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P