“The agency still uses occupational data developed by the Labor Department in 1938 and last updated in 1991. Since 2012, SSA has been working on updating that data into a list of modern jobs with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The forthcoming proposed rule was expected not only to replace that outdated data, but also to change how other factors like age and education weigh into the process — changes that could affect eligibility and who gets benefits.
Experts, advocates and Democrats in Congress had warned that changes in the proposed rule could drastically cut eligibility for the Social Security Disability Insurance program.
These restrictions were expected to be especially acute among older people due to changes in how age is accounted for in the process.
Jack Smalligan, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, estimated in a September paper that if the proposed regulation reduced eligibility by 10%, 500,000 people could lose access to Social Security disability insurance benefits over 10 years.”