YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyTransparency & AccountabilitySocial Security could test new work rules for disability benefits in 2027 — joining can't lower your total income.
Your Money
Social Security ran pilot programs to test new rules for disability benefits. That power ran out at the end of 2022. The bill lets the agency start new pilots through 2030.
The agency would have to make sure no one ends up with less total income because they joined a pilot. Current law makes no such promise.
Inside a pilot, the agency could skip some usual rules for disability and Medicare. That is how it tries a new setup. One test might let people keep more pay before their checks drop.
Transparency & Accountability
Social Security cannot start a pilot until it sends House and Senate committees a full written plan. The bill gives lawmakers 120 days to read it, up from 90.
That written notice would also have to list the yardsticks the agency will use to measure results. Today it only gives the goals, the costs, and the start and end dates.
New pilots could only start through the end of 2030, and every pilot would have to wrap up by the end of 2031. After that, Congress would have to renew the power again.
More about this bill
If you get Social Security disability benefits, you could be asked to join a test program again starting in 2027. Social Security used to run these pilots — the law calls them demonstration projects — to learn how people can go back to work without losing benefits. That power ran out at the end of 2022. It would come back. New pilots could start through the end of 2030. Joining stays your choice. The bill also adds a promise: your total income cannot go down because you took part. Inside a pilot, the agency could set aside some normal disability and Medicare rules to try a different setup. Social Security would have to notify House and Senate committees 120 days before a pilot begins, up from 90. That notice would also have to say how the agency will measure results. All of this power would end on December 31, 2031.
Congressional Summary
Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act This bill reauthorizes through 2031 the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) authority to carry out demonstration projects within the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. The bill also imposes requirements related to beneficiary income, project funding, and SSA reporting. SSDI demonstration projects must be designed to promote attachment to the workforce and generally involve temporary changes to SSDI policies tested on a subset of beneficiaries. Participation in a demonstration project must be voluntary. SSA’s authority to carry out these projects expired on December 31, 2022. Under the bill, SSA must ensure that an individual’s participation in a demonstration project does not reduce their total income. Further, the bill specifies that administrative expenses related to demonstration projects must be paid from funds appropriated for administration. Finally, the bill requires SSA to report to Congress 120 days before initiating a demonstration project. This is an increase from 90 days under current law. This advance notification must include evaluation metrics for the relevant project.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-06-25
- Date Added
- 2026-06-27
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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