For those of you who were at our conference in May, we hope that you had the opportunity to stop by AppalReD’s table in the exhibitor’s hall or to hear from the Nancy G. Shor Leadership Award winner Ned Pillersdorf about the ongoing efforts to help the victims of Eric C. Conn and ALJ Daugherty.  

While we all feel the daily impact of the Conn/Daugherty crimes with the implementation of the “all-evidence” rule, the loss of the “treating physician” rule, and the introduction of SSRs 22-1p and 22-2p, many of those who had the misfortune of being represented by Conn continue to experience first-hand turmoil with cases that have not yet resolved. It is hard to believe that more than a decade later, many are still fighting for their benefits and facing steep overpayments for the crimes of others.  

NOSSCR knows that these victims deserve swift and just resolutions to their cases, and we have continued to fight for relief for these victims behind the scenes with senior staff at SSA. Redetermination hearings are still taking place—stalwart members like NOSSCR PAC Chair Ann Atkinson have represented claimants at redetermination hearings as recently as last week. While these cases are nuanced and our advocacy has taken many forms, our two primary asks have been that (1) SSA waive overpayments for these victims, and that, (2) instead of continuing their obfuscated system of “redetermining” disability in a vacuum with evidence that pre-dates the original ALJ’s determination (and that largely no longer exists), that they instead consider all evidence, including whether or not the person can currently prove disability (a modified CDR).  

This has been an exciting year for NOSSCR where much of our advocacy has focused on proposed policy changes that can be swiftly implemented while achieving the greatest impact—and we are proud of those wins and grateful for the culture shift that we have seen within SSA under the decisive leadership of Commissioner O’Malley. However, we wanted to pause for a moment to remind our members that we continue long-term advocacy for many tough issues, and, with the ongoing support of our members, we will continue to fight for improvements in all forms.