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What is the current frequency of Continuing Disability Reviews for SSDI recipients?
Executive Summary
The Social Security Administration (SSA) schedules Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) based on expected medical improvement: 6–18 months if improvement is expected, about every 3 years if improvement is possible, and every 5–7 years if improvement is not expected; regulatory text also frames permanent impairments for review no less often than every 7 years and no more often than every 5 years (reflecting overlapping guidance) [1] [2] [3]. Recent administrative action suspended CDRs for part of 2024 to redirect resources to backlog reduction, temporarily altering the practical frequency for many beneficiaries [4].
1. Why the schedule looks complicated — clinical prognosis drives review timing
The SSA groups cases by prognosis and assigns CDR intervals accordingly, producing the familiar triage of 6–18 months, three years, and five‑to‑seven years. Cases where medical improvement is expected receive the most frequent scrutiny, with reviews scheduled within 6 to 18 months of a prior determination; cases where improvement is possible but unpredictable normally get a three‑year look‑back; and conditions judged unlikely to improve are placed on the longest cycle of five to seven years [3] [5]. Regulatory language codifies similar ranges and adds a specific boundary for permanent impairments — reviews “no less often than once every seven years and no more often than once every five years” — which creates apparent tension with the more general five‑to‑seven‑year phrasing found elsewhere [2] [1]. That tension explains why guidance often cites overlapping intervals rather than a single fixed schedule.
2. The law and agency policy: where the numbers come from
The schedules derive from Social Security regulations and program operations guidance. The Code of Federal Regulations and SSA policy manuals set the framework that ties review frequency to the case category (expected, possible, not expected to improve), and these sources specify the 6–18 month, three‑year, and five–to‑seven‑year windows used in SSA practice [1] [6]. Program Operating Manual System (POMS) material and SSA guidance operationalize those windows and describe procedural triggers for earlier reviews, such as new evidence or changes in work activity [6]. Regulatory text and SSA policy together produce the standardized but flexible review cadence used across states. The different phrasing across documents explains why public summaries sometimes present the ranges in slightly different terms [2] [1].
3. A practical wrinkle: 2024 suspension altered the real‑world cadence
In mid‑2024, the SSA announced a suspension of CDRs for the remainder of 2024 to free Disability Determination Services to address a backlog of initial claims and reconsiderations; that administrative decision temporarily disrupted the usual cadence and delayed many scheduled reviews [4]. The suspension did not change the underlying legal framework that sets review intervals; it changed the practical timing for beneficiaries whose CDRs were due during the suspension period. As a result, while policy still prescribes 6–18 months, three years, or five‑to‑seven years depending on prognosis, many recipients experienced delays in 2024 because SSA prioritized front‑end adjudication [4]. The suspension demonstrates how operational constraints can shift timing even when rules remain intact.
4. Where public descriptions diverge — interpreting five vs. seven years
Public summaries and legal text sometimes conflict in presentation: some sources say permanent cases are reviewed “every five to seven years,” while a regulatory citation frames the limit as “no less often than once every seven years and no more often than once every five years,” which is logically inconsistent if read literally [2] [1]. That inconsistency results from trying to capture a range while also imposing regulatory minimums and maximums; SSA practice and POMS guidance resolve it operationally by assigning periodic review bands rather than a single fixed interval [2] [6]. The takeaway is that reviewers apply judgment within a prescribed range, producing variability across cases and jurisdictions.
5. What beneficiaries should expect going forward
Legally, beneficiaries should expect CDR frequency to remain tied to the medical prognosis categories — 6–18 months when improvement is expected, about three years when improvement is possible, and roughly five to seven years when improvement is not expected — while being aware that administrative decisions (such as the 2024 suspension) can delay scheduled reviews [3] [5] [4]. Beneficiaries who see changes in health, work, or medical documentation may prompt an earlier review; conversely, system backlogs can push reviews beyond the nominal intervals. Monitoring SSA notices and staying engaged with DDS or local SSA offices remains the most reliable way for recipients to know when a CDR will occur.