Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Hearing Loss

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Social Security Administration 20 CFR Part 404 [Docket No. SSA-2008-0016] RIN 0960-AG20 AGENCY: Social Security Administration. ACTION: Final rules. SUMMARY: We are revising the criteria in the Listing of Impairments (the listings) that we use to evaluate claims involving hearing loss under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act). The revisions reflect our adjudicative experience, advances in medical knowledge, treatment, and methods of evaluating hearing loss, and public comments we received in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). DATES: These rules are effective August 2, 2010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiya Marshall, Social Insurance Specialist, Office of Medical Listings Improvement, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, (410) 965-9291. 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 Web site, Social Security Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Version The electronic file of this document is available on the date of publication in the Federal Register at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/​fr/​index.html . Background We are revising and making final the rules for evaluating hearing loss we proposed in an NPRM we published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2008 ( 73 FR 47103 ). The preamble to the NPRM discussed the changes from the curre…