Comment on FR Doc #

While these amendments are certainly welcome news, I wish they had been made much earlier. I currently have two pending, and stalled, disability claims and neither have left the initial stage of adjudication. It has been 5 years this month (July 2007) since I submitted my first application for SSD. Although I have not yet had clear answers as to why this has happened, nor do I know what is currently happening with my claims, I was very glad to learn about these amendments coming into effect. It is difficult, depressing, frightening and humiliating enough to have to deal with a debilitating illness and all the painful, tiring and hindering symptoms that come with it. To also be faced with a labyrinth of confusion and unreasonable, unexplained delay regarding the determination of your disability claim while trying to cope with a life-changing disability truly pushes the human body, and mind, to the extreme limit. Unfortunately for me, and I expect for many others like me, the above paragraph is more than just an opinion; it is a fact. I look forward to these new amendments to become effective nationwide; please note that 'effective' is the key word. Regards, Jude Harvey