Changes in Disability Hearings
By Pitt Dickey

Bob Dylan wasn't thinking about the Social Security Administration when he wrote "the times they are a changing", but his observation describes  what's happening now in the universe of  Social Security Disability claims.  The SSA is  moving into the brave new world of electronic claim files, video conferencing hearings and another set of Judges for people in the Cumberland County area.  This column will take a look at what's just over the horizon in deciding Social Security Disability claims.

When someone applies for Social Security Disability benefits, many ultimately successful claims are  denied twice.  The system makes an initial decision which is typically a denial.  The claimant can then appeal for a reconsideration decision. The reconsideration decision also  is usually a  denial. Then the claimant can appeal to Federal  Administrative Law Judge to hear his claim.  The Judge is not bound by the two earlier denials and  gives the claimant a new hearing based on the evidence at the hearing and the claimant's testimony.  The Judge frequently will approve Disability claims which have been denied twice.

HEARING OFFICES

The Administrative Law Judges currently assigned to Cumberland County are headquartered at the Office of Hearings and Appeals  in Greensboro, N.C.  Claimants in Fayetteville currently have their hearings either in Fayetteville at the main U.S. Post Office or in Sanford at the Lee County Court house. 

Cumberland County has been the red headed step child in  hearings on Disability claims.  The SSA keeps swapping the Judges assigned to Cumberland County.   Over the last decade, Cumberland County has been assigned to Judges from the Raleigh Office, the Charleston, S.C. office, the Raleigh Office again, the Greensboro Office and apparently will be assigned back to the Charleston, S.C. office in the near future. 

There are approximately 100 new disability cases a month filed in Cumberland County. For many years these cases were assigned to the Raleigh Office of Hearings and Appeals. There is an average wait of 18 months in the Raleigh Office  for a hearing after the reconsideration denial. At a recent seminar at the  Raleigh Office,  the Chief Administrative Law Judge   announced that in March 2004 there was a case load of 8200 cases waiting to be heard.  This case load had dropped to 7200 pending cases in September 2004.   Part of the reason for the drop in the case load was that new Cumberland County disability cases had been transferred to the Greensboro Office in February 2003.  The wait for hearings in Greensboro's Office is about 12 months. The Charleston S.C. Office has begun to take some of the backlog of cases from Greensboro from Cumberland County and may ultimately take all of the Cumberland County cases. In the past, Judges from Charleston, S.C. held  their hearings in Cumberland County so it is likely  claimants will not have to travel out of county.

VIDEO HEARINGS

The Raleigh Office of Hearings has permanent   remote sites for hearings to which the Judges have been traveling. These remote sites are in Greenville and Roanoke Rapids.  There will be a permanent  remote site in New Bern in December 2004.   Instead of the  Judge  traveling  to these sites, the SSA has set up a system of video conferencing which will allow the Judge to remain in Raleigh. The claimant will  go to the remote site in  Greenville and appear on a video screen in Raleigh. The video monitors  are like the big screen TV's that are in sports bars. The claimant and the Judge will be able to see and hear each other on a secure video feed on a dedicated line. The hearing is not broadcast so it is not subject to being intercepted by unauthorized viewers. 

Fayetteville does not have a remote site yet with a permanent video capability.    Fayetteville should eventually  have a video conferencing site.   A  Judge will be able to sit in Charleston and conduct hearings in Fayetteville over the video system.  This will save in travel time for the Judges and might speed up the hearing process.   At the present time, the claimant can object to the video conferencing arrangement and appear personally before the Judge at a hearing site.

Robeson County Disability cases are held in Lumberton  by the Charlotte Office of Hearings and Appeals. The Lumberton remote site has the video conferencing equipment installed. A  Judge in Charlotte can conduct video hearings in Lumberton.

ELECTRONIC CLAIM FILES

The next step into the 21st Century by the SSA is the use of Electronic Claims folders. Ultimately the plan is for the SSA to do away with the paper files entirely in Disability cases.  The claimant's entire file will  be put on a computer server which would then be accessible by the SSA caseworkers and the Judge and the claimant at his  hearing.  Medical and all other SSA records will be scanned into the computer and stored in the claimant's file.  The Office of Hearings will send a CD with the claimant's file to either the claimant or his attorney to be used in preparation of the hearing. The Greensboro Office has already had a few hearings using the electronic claim file. The Raleigh and Charlotte Office will be having electronic file hearings in the near future. The entire country is supposed to begin the process of using electronic files beginning in early 2005.

As the software for this  process was just released this summer it is not likely that there will be a sudden shift away from paper files in the near future. The monumental size of the task of scanning all the medical and SSA records into electronic files will take  years.    But it will ultimately happen. Claimants and their attorneys should  eventually be able to go to a secure web site and view the Claimants entire file on line to see what information has been acquired and more importantly what medical information still needs to be acquired to support their claim.

Like Dylan wrote, "the times they are a changing" and the SSA is changing right along with them.    

Copyright © Pitt Dickey 10/13/2004