Harvell

Samuel L. Harvell appeals a summary judgment affirming the final decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (“Commissioner”) denying his application for disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. Harvell contends that he was unconstitutionally denied benefits pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 404.130 (b) (1996), also known as the “20/40” rule, which requires an individual making a disability claim to have worked at a job at which he paid social security tax during at least twenty of the forty quarters preceding the quarter in which his disability occurs. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1994), and we affirm.

Harvell contends that the “20/40” rule is unconstitutional because it denies him disability benefits even though he is “fully insured” under the Act by virtue of his contribution of payroll taxes to the disability program from 1953 to 1969. But in order to receive disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, an individual must be both insured for disability benefits and disabled within the meaning of the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 423 (a)(1)(A) & (D) (1994). And to meet the disability insured status requirements,…