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To amend titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act to make the reconsideration review process optional.
Summary
This bill amends Social Security law to make the reconsideration review process optional for denied benefit claims. Under current law, claimants denied Social Security benefits must go through a reconsideration process before requesting a hearing. This bill allows claimants to request a hearing directly without first requesting reconsideration. The change takes effect one year after enactment for initial decisions made on or after that date.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (2)
- Apr 23, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
- Apr 23, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 23, 2026
Mrs. Foushee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act to make the reconsideration review process optional.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Respecting Every Claimant’s appeal Options Now Act” or the “RECON Act”.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MANDATORY RECONSIDERATION REVIEW.
(a) Title II Amendment.—Section 205(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “The Commissioner shall provide opportunity for a hearing in accordance with this subsection with respect to any initial decision or determination under this title upon the request of such applicant or such other individual. The Commissioner may not require reconsideration of the initial decision or determination prior to the hearing.”.
(b) Title XVI Amendment.—Section 1631(c)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(c)(1)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “The Commissioner shall provide opportunity for a hearing in accordance with this subsection with respect to any initial decision or determination under this title upon the request of such individual. The Commissioner may not require reconsideration of the initial decision or determination prior to the hearing.”.
(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to any initial decision or determination relating to entitlement to a benefit under title II or XVI of the Social Security Act made on or after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>
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