The Social Security Administration has issued a final rule which modifies the agency's regulations to comply with Executive Order 14168, by removing the word "gender" wherever it appears in the regulatory text of the Listing of Impairments and replacing it with the word "sex."
This ensures agency policies align with the recent executive mandate regarding the administration of sex-based distinctions.
This action does not alter any existing policies, administrative procedures, or substantive rules governing disability evaluations. As a purely technical revision, it will not impact program eligibility, benefit payments for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income, nor will it impose new administrative costs.
The scope of this rule is explicitly confined to the Listing of Impairments used to evaluate disability claims under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act.
Specifically, the word replacement applies only to Parts A and B of Appendix 1 to Subpart P of 20 CFR Part 404, covering both adult and childhood severe functional limitations.
The regulation does not preempt any State laws or affect the traditional functions of State governments.
