Glossary and General Guidance

	Please note: We suggest that you print out this screen before starting to answer the questions so that you can refer to it. Thank you.

Acronyms - The following acronyms are used throughout the questionnaire: CDR – Continuing Disability Review CPD – Comparison Point Decision DDS – Disability Determination Services MIRS – Medical Improvement Review Standard POMS – Program Operations Manual System SGA – Substantial Gainful Activity SSA – Social Security Administration SSDI – Social Security Disability Insurance SSI – Supplemental Security Income RFC – Residual Functional Capacity The Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984 outlined a Standard of Review for Termination of Disability Benefits (commonly called the Medical Improvement Review Standard or MIRS) which governs Social Security Administration (SSA) regulations and policies related to Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs). We want to better understand the elements of this standard and how they, alone or in combination with other factors, may impact CDR outcomes (whether or not a beneficiary continues to receive benefits). Furthermore, we would like to have a better understanding of the proportion of CDR cases that were continued for benefits in which benefits would have been ceased if the cases were given de novo reviews. De novo review: For the purposes of this questionnaire, we define a de novo review as a CDR that assesses a beneficiary’s claim of continuing disability as though it were an initial claim of disability. This is a CDR that uses the initial sequential evaluation process. Please answer the questions as they pertain to medical CDRs for Title II (Social Security Disability Insurance) and Title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) Adults only (not children and not Age-18 Redeterminations). Some questions in the survey ask you for estimates based on your professional experience. In these questions we are asking for your professional opinion and do not expect you to produce hard data to make the estimate.

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Full Report: GAO-07-8

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