The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved a new Social Security rule that would remove the inability to communicate in English as criteria in determining a disability case. Previously the inability to communicate in English was taken into consideration in obtaining work in a disability case. Below is the final rule that will eventually be printed in the federal register.
This final rule would eliminate the education category “inability to communicate in English” when we evaluate disability claims for adults under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. Changes in the national workforce since we added this category to our rules in 1978 demonstrate that this education category is no longer a reliable indicator of an individual’s educational attainment or the vocational impact of an individual’s education. The rule would reflect research and data related to English language proficiency, work, and education; expansion of the international reach of our disability programs; and audit findings by our Office of the Inspector General. The rule would help us better assess the vocational impact of education in the disability determination process.
Because the ability to communicate in English is a big factor in finding employment in the United States this is not a rule change to consider lightly and seems like another way Social Security is attempting to limit the number of people who qualify for disability benefits. Just because someone can’t speak English did not mean they would qualify for disability benefits based on that factor alone. Prior to this rule being approved the ability to speak English was only a contributing factor in a disability claim. The main consideration in a disability claim is the consideration of impairments and whether those impairments prevent someone from working fulltime and that will not change.
