TN 1 (07-08)

DI 14505.001 Background of Section 301 Payments to Individuals Participating in a Vocational Rehabilitation or Similar Program

Section 301 of the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 (P.L. 96-265), provides for continuation of disability benefits to certain individuals whose disability medically ceases while the individual is engaged in a program of vocational rehabilitation (VR).

Section 301 of the 1980 Amendments added sections 225(b) and 1631(a)(6) of the Social Security Act (the Act) to provide, in general, that the payment of benefits based on disability shall not be terminated or suspended because the physical or mental impairment on which the individual’s entitlement or eligibility is based has ceased if:

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  the individual is participating in an approved State VR program; and

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  we have determined that the individual’s completion of the program, or continued participation in the program for a specified period of time, will increase the likelihood that the individual may be permanently removed from the disability benefit rolls.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203), extended eligibility for Section 301 payments under the title XVI provision to individuals who receive SSI benefits based on blindness and whose blindness ends while they are participating in an approved State VR program.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508), amended the title II and title XVI provisions to permit the continuation of payments to individuals who medically recover while participating in an approved non-State VR program.

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170), amended sections 225(b)(1) and 1631(a)(6)(A) of the Act to expressly provide for consideration of eligibility for the continuation of payments under these sections for an individual whose disability or blindness ceases while the individual is participating in the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program under section 1148 of the Act or another program of VR services, employment services, or other support services approved by the Commissioner of Social Security.