Walter L. MORGAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

908 F.2d 1426 30 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 553, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 15577A Walter L. MORGAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, * Defendant-Appellee. No. 88-4075. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 28, 1989. Decided July 13, 1990. Ralph Wilborn, Eugene, Or., for plaintiff-appellant. Richard H. Wetmore, Asst. Regional Counsel, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Kathryn A. Warma, Asst. U.S. Atty., Seattle, Wash., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Before FERGUSON, BRUNETTI and O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. BRUNETTI, Circuit Judge: 1 Walter Morgan appeals from the district court's decision upholding the determination of the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("Secretary") that he is not entitled to disability insurance benefits. We affirm. 2 Morgan was born October 29, 1924, and partially completed the third-grade. His relevant work experience has been as a truck driver and logger, but he has not been gainfully employed since 1977. On August 22, 1984 he applied for disability and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") insurance benefits,…

Walter Morgan appeals from the district court’s decision upholding the determination of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”) that he is not entitled to disability insurance benefits. We affirm.

Morgan was born October 29, 1924, and partially completed the third-grade. His relevant work experience has been as a truck driver and logger, but he has not been gainfully employed since 1977. On August 22, 1984 he applied for disability and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) insurance benefits, alleging back and heart ailments. The application was denied initially and on reconsideration. Morgan filed for SSI and disability benefits again on August 22, 1984, which were also denied. Morgan appealed. On June 11, 1985, an Administrative Law Judge (“AU”) found Morgan eligible for SSI benefits as of July 25, 1984, because of subsequent mental impairments, but denied the disability benefits on the grounds that Morgan was not disabled on or before December 31, 1979, the date he was last insured for disability benefit purposes. Morgan appealed the AU’s determination.

The Appeals Council remanded the case for reconsideration under the Reform Act of 1984. On remand, a…

dissenting:

There is no dispute that Morgan has suffered from a mental impairment of disabling severity for a number of years; neither party challenges Morgan’s entitlement to Title XVI supplemental social security benefits due to psychosis attributed to paranoid schizophrenia. Rather, the central question presented by Morgan’s application for Title II disability benefits is whether the onset of Morgan’s disability occurred prior to the termination of his insured status on December 31, 1979.

The majority’s abbreviated treatment of Morgan’s mental disability claim dismisses two separate, yet related, evidentiary errors committed by the Secretary. Ignoring Social Security Ruling 83-20 (“SSR 83-20”) which establishes guidelines for determining the onset date of a claimant’s disability, as well as the more general administrative obligation to fully develop the record in social security cases, the Secretary erroneously concluded that no medical evidence supported an onset date prior to December 1979. The majority is able to affirm the Secretary only by flatly contradicting the plain language of SSR 83-20.

A.

SSR 83-20 provides specific evidentiary guidelines for ALJs when faced…