
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC434]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                       CHAPTER 7--SOCIAL SECURITY
 
  SUBCHAPTER II--FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE 
                                BENEFITS
 
Sec. 434. Demonstration project authority


(a) Authority

                           (1) In general

        The Commissioner of Social Security (in this section referred to 
    as the ``Commissioner'') shall develop and carry out experiments and 
    demonstration projects designed to determine the relative advantages 
    and disadvantages of--
            (A) various alternative methods of treating the work 
        activity of individuals entitled to disability insurance 
        benefits under section 423 of this title or to monthly insurance 
        benefits under section 402 of this title based on such 
        individual's disability (as defined in section 423(d) of this 
        title), including such methods as a reduction in benefits based 
        on earnings, designed to encourage the return to work of such 
        individuals;
            (B) altering other limitations and conditions applicable to 
        such individuals (including lengthening the trial work period 
        (as defined in section 422(c) of this title), altering the 24-
        month waiting period for hospital insurance benefits under 
        section 426 of this title, altering the manner in which the 
        program under this subchapter is administered, earlier referral 
        of such individuals for rehabilitation, and greater use of 
        employers and others to develop, perform, and otherwise 
        stimulate new forms of rehabilitation); and
            (C) implementing sliding scale benefit offsets using 
        variations in--
                (i) the amount of the offset as a proportion of earned 
            income;
                (ii) the duration of the offset period; and
                (iii) the method of determining the amount of income 
            earned by such individuals,

    to the end that savings will accrue to the Trust Funds, or to 
    otherwise promote the objectives or facilitate the administration of 
    this subchapter.

                (2) Authority for expansion of scope

        The Commissioner may expand the scope of any such experiment or 
    demonstration project to include any group of applicants for 
    benefits under the program established under this subchapter with 
    impairments that reasonably may be presumed to be disabling for 
    purposes of such demonstration project, and may limit any such 
    demonstration project to any such group of applicants, subject to 
    the terms of such demonstration project which shall define the 
    extent of any such presumption.

(b) Requirements

    The experiments and demonstration projects developed under 
subsection (a) of this section shall be of sufficient scope and shall be 
carried out on a wide enough scale to permit a thorough evaluation of 
the alternative methods under consideration while giving assurance that 
the results derived from the experiments and projects will obtain 
generally in the operation of the disability insurance program under 
this subchapter without committing such program to the adoption of any 
particular system either locally or nationally.

(c) Authority to waive compliance with benefits requirements

    In the case of any experiment or demonstration project conducted 
under subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner may waive 
compliance with the benefit requirements of this subchapter and the 
requirements of section 1320b-19 of this title as they relate to the 
program established under this subchapter, and the Secretary may (upon 
the request of the Commissioner) waive compliance with the benefits 
requirements of subchapter XVIII of this chapter, insofar as is 
necessary for a thorough evaluation of the alternative methods under 
consideration. No such experiment or project shall be actually placed in 
operation unless at least 90 days prior thereto a written report, 
prepared for purposes of notification and information only and 
containing a full and complete description thereof, has been transmitted 
by the Commissioner to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and to the Committee on Finance of the Senate. Periodic 
reports on the progress of such experiments and demonstration projects 
shall be submitted by the Commissioner to such committees. When 
appropriate, such reports shall include detailed recommendations for 
changes in administration or law, or both, to carry out the objectives 
stated in subsection (a) of this section.

(d) Reports

                         (1) Interim reports

        On or before June 9 of each year, the Commissioner shall submit 
    to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
    and to the Committee on Finance of the Senate an annual interim 
    report on the progress of the experiments and demonstration projects 
    carried out under this subsection \1\ together with any related data 
    and materials that the Commissioner may consider appropriate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``section''.
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                  (2) Termination and final report

        The authority under the preceding provisions of this section 
    (including any waiver granted pursuant to subsection (c) of this 
    section) shall terminate 5 years after December 17, 1999. Not later 
    than 90 days after the termination of any experiment or 
    demonstration project carried out under this section, the 
    Commissioner shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the 
    House of Representatives and to the Committee on Finance of the 
    Senate a final report with respect to that experiment or 
    demonstration project.

(Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title II, Sec. 234, as added Pub. L. 106-170, 
title III, Sec. 301(a), Dec. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 1900.)

                          Codification

    December 17, 1999, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), was in the 
original ``the date of the enactment of this Act'', which was translated 
as meaning the date of enactment of Pub. L. 106-170, which enacted this 
section, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.


Demonstration Projects Providing for Reductions in Disability Insurance 
                       Benefits Based on Earnings

    Pub. L. 106-170, title III, Sec. 302, Dec. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 1902, 
provided that:
    ``(a) Authority.--The Commissioner of Social Security shall conduct 
demonstration projects for the purpose of evaluating, through the 
collection of data, a program for title II disability beneficiaries (as 
defined in section 1148(k)(3) of the Social Security Act [section 1320b-
19(k)(3) of this title]) under which benefits payable under section 223 
of such Act [section 423 of this title], or under section 202 of such 
Act [section 402 of this title] based on the beneficiary's disability, 
are reduced by $1 for each $2 of the beneficiary's earnings that is 
above a level to be determined by the Commissioner. Such projects shall 
be conducted at a number of localities which the Commissioner shall 
determine is sufficient to adequately evaluate the appropriateness of 
national implementation of such a program. Such projects shall identify 
reductions in Federal expenditures that may result from the permanent 
implementation of such a program.
    ``(b) Scope and Scale and Matters To Be Determined.--
        ``(1) In general.--The demonstration projects developed under 
    subsection (a) shall be of sufficient duration, shall be of 
    sufficient scope, and shall be carried out on a wide enough scale to 
    permit a thorough evaluation of the project to determine--
            ``(A) the effects, if any, of induced entry into the project 
        and reduced exit from the project;
            ``(B) the extent, if any, to which the project being tested 
        is affected by whether it is in operation in a locality within 
        an area under the administration of the Ticket to Work and Self-
        Sufficiency Program established under section 1148 of the Social 
        Security Act [section 1320b-19 of this title]; and
            ``(C) the savings that accrue to the Federal Old-Age and 
        Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance 
        Trust Fund, and other Federal programs under the project being 
        tested.
    The Commissioner shall take into account advice provided by the 
    Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel pursuant to 
    section 101(f)(2)(B)(ii) of this Act [set out as a note under 
    section 1320b-19 of this title].
        ``(2) Additional matters.--The Commissioner shall also determine 
    with respect to each project--
            ``(A) the annual cost (including net cost) of the project 
        and the annual cost (including net cost) that would have been 
        incurred in the absence of the project;
            ``(B) the determinants of return to work, including the 
        characteristics of the beneficiaries who participate in the 
        project; and
            ``(C) the employment outcomes, including wages, occupations, 
        benefits, and hours worked, of beneficiaries who return to work 
        as a result of participation in the project.
    The Commissioner may include within the matters evaluated under the 
    project the merits of trial work periods and periods of extended 
    eligibility.
    ``(c) Waivers.--The Commissioner may waive compliance with the 
benefit provisions of title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 
et seq.), and the Secretary of Health and Human Services may waive 
compliance with the benefit requirements of title XVIII of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), insofar as is necessary for a thorough evaluation 
of the alternative methods under consideration. No such project shall be 
actually placed in operation unless at least 90 days prior thereto a 
written report, prepared for purposes of notification and information 
only and containing a full and complete description thereof, has been 
transmitted by the Commissioner to the Committee on Ways and Means of 
the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Finance of the 
Senate. Periodic reports on the progress of such projects shall be 
submitted by the Commissioner to such committees. When appropriate, such 
reports shall include detailed recommendations for changes in 
administration or law, or both, to carry out the objectives stated in 
subsection (a).
    ``(d) Interim Reports.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], and annually thereafter, the 
Commissioner of Social Security shall submit to the Congress an interim 
report on the progress of the demonstration projects carried out under 
this subsection together with any related data and materials that the 
Commissioner of Social Security may consider appropriate.
    ``(e) Final Report.--The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
submit to the Congress a final report with respect to all demonstration 
projects carried out under this section not later than 1 year after 
their completion.
    ``(f) Expenditures.--Expenditures made for demonstration projects 
under this section shall be made from the Federal Disability Insurance 
Trust Fund and the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, 
as determined appropriate by the Commissioner of Social Security, and 
from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal 
Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, as determined appropriate by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the extent provided in 
advance in appropriation Acts.''


  Study by General Accounting Office of the Impact of the Substantial 
                Gainful Activity Limit on Return to Work

    Pub. L. 106-170, title III, Sec. 303(c), Dec. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 
1904, provided that:
    ``(1) Study.--As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 
of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall undertake a study of the substantial gainful activity level 
applicable as of that date to recipients of benefits under section 223 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423) and under section 202 of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 402) on the basis of a recipient having a disability, and 
the effect of such level as a disincentive for those recipients to 
return to work. In the study, the Comptroller General also shall address 
the merits of increasing the substantial gainful activity level 
applicable to such recipients of benefits and the rationale for not 
yearly indexing that level to inflation.
    ``(2) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], the Comptroller General shall 
transmit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a written 
report presenting the results of the Comptroller General's study 
conducted pursuant to this subsection, together with such 
recommendations for legislative or administrative changes as the 
Comptroller General determines are appropriate.''


       Study by the General Accounting Office of Social Security 
  Administration's Disability Insurance Program Demonstration Authority

    Pub. L. 106-170, title III, Sec. 303(e), Dec. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 
1905, provided that:
    ``(1) Study.--As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 
of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall undertake a study to assess the results of the Social 
Security Administration's efforts to conduct disability demonstrations 
authorized under prior law as well as under section 234 of the Social 
Security Act [this section] (as added by section 301 of this Act).
    ``(2) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act [Dec. 17, 1999], the Comptroller General shall 
transmit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a written 
report presenting the results of the Comptroller General's study 
conducted pursuant to this section, together with a recommendation as to 
whether the demonstration authority authorized under section 234 of the 
Social Security Act [this section] (as added by section 301 of this Act) 
should be made permanent.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 401 of this title.
