Making DI Work For All Americans Act of 2018

Making DI Work For All Americans Act of 2018

This bill revises requirements related to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits program, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits program, and disability determinations made by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Specifically, the bill:

• applies the judicial code of conduct applicable to U.S. judges to administrative law judges (ALJs) for the SSA,
• prohibits the SSA from prescribing certain fees regarding the representation of claimants for OASDI and SSI benefits,
• permits the SSA to withhold less than the amount required to correctly adjust a recipient's OASDI benefits amount under certain conditions,
• disqualifies an individual from receiving OASDI benefits for any month for which the individual receives unemployment-insurance benefits,
• eliminates the application stages for reconsideration reviews of disability determinations,
• increases the frequency of benefits-eligibility reviews, and
• decreases the amount of time provided to an individual to apply for OASDI benefits and receive funds retroactively from the first month of eligibility.

Additionally, the SSA must:

• review a sample of decisions in favor of claimants for OASDI benefits from outlier ALJs,
• update the medical-vocational guidelines used in disability determinations,
• consider any relevant evidence from a claimant's social media prior to issuing a disability determination,
• update the data used to determine the full range of work available to individuals in the national economy,
• ensure that communications between the SSA and an individual eligible for OASDI benefits include a description of the individual's responsibility to report to the SSA on any change of circumstance that may affect such individual's eligibility, and
• include unearned income in the determination of an individual's substantial gainful activity.