SSA Seeks Input from AARC on Respiratory Disorders

April 9, 2013

On February 4, 2013, the Social Security Administration issued a proposed rule to revise the criteria it uses to evaluate claims involving respiratory disorders in adults and children for the purpose of making disability determinations. The proposed revisions reflect program experience, advances in medical knowledge, and comments SSA received from medical experts at an outreach policy conference several years ago.  The agency contacted AARC specifically for comment.

For the most part, SSA’s medical criteria looks at defining certain types of tests and the requirements needed for an acceptable test and report.  For respiratory disorders, SSA describes what each one is and how they evaluate it for purposes of determining disability.  Examples of some of the disorders include chronic respiratory disorders (which includes COPD and pulmonary fibrosis), asthma, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, chronic pulmonary hypertension due to any cause, lung transplantation, and respiratory failure. 

AARC submitted comments to SSA on April 4, 2013. Our comments focused on documentation requirements for spirometry calibration and spirometry tracings, differences between pulmonary function tests and devices used for monitoring, and evaluating a child’s disability via spirometry testing using criteria for chronic respiratory disorders and asthma.