David Camp, NOSSCR CEO

October was an active month for NOSSCR, featuring our Next Generation Retreat in Portland, NOSSCR alum (and honorary member) Rebecca Vallas’ first Ball Awards as CEO of NASI, and our Southeast Regional Conference in Raleigh.

Meanwhile, our advocacy efforts intensified on several topics—while we all await an election outcome in November. In my last column I highlighted the many wins so far in 2024. They bear repeating: a fee agreement cap increase (effective in a month!), annual COLA adjustments to the fee agreement cap (effective 2026), 15 to 5 PRW, initial and reconsideration claim data in ERE, entities recognized for fee payments, hearing format flexibility retained, aged SSI fees released, SSI underpayment review moved to $15,000, electronic signatures policy, signature removals, vocational evidence policy improvement (questionable and obsolete occupations), Conn victims relief, Ticket to Work policy elevation to the Commissioner, Ticket to Work marketing improvements, collateral estoppel, overpayment waiver policy ($2,000 admin waiver), overpayment collection policy (10% default for SSDI, 60 months), SSI installment payment policy (documents not required to avoid installments), SSI expansion of the public assistance household to include SNAP (and avoid ISM), SSI exclusion of food from ISM, and SSI expansion of the rental subsidy policy.

Highlights of our ongoing efforts include several topics of day-to-day importance to our members—and to your bottom line.

Fee Petition ALJ Authority Cap Increase

Behind the scenes, we have been advocating for a second version of the cap increase—the maximum authority for a fee petition that can be approved by an ALJ without needing to escalate the matter to the Regional Office. In practical reality, this limit imposes a cap on the amounts requested in most fee petitions. On Friday in Raleigh during our Southeast Regional Conference, Deputy Chief ALJ Dillon confirmed what we’ve been advocating for—an increase of that limit to $15,000, set to take effect December 9, 2024.

Medical records

We have devised a multi-prong attack on the medical records problem—both as to costs and as to the need to obtain them in an antiquated single-request-with-release format. We have developed a legal opinion (aided by our longtime law firm in DC) that the costs imposed by record copying services such as CIOX/Datavant are “record blocking” and should be addressed as such under existing HHS regulations. We’re working to obtain Social Security’s cooperation in this effort, which ultimately will be a request that NOSSCR and Social Security join their interests and ask HHS to address the problem, which we have termed the “Disability Tax.” Claimants who are able to log into a portal and obtain their records often do not face costs. However, those claimants who are more impaired—particularly due to mental or neurological problems—are frequently unable to access these portals, resulting in burdensome costs to claimants that limit their access to representation and thwart Social Security’s claims process. Increasing costs for those with certain limiting disabilities is unacceptable. You may have seen my recent op-ed on the topic in Pennsylvania, written with NOSSCR member Jen Burdick, or my article from earlier this week. More is to come as our “Disability Tax” public campaign efforts increase in the coming months. On another prong, we are working to on ways to gain access to the digital medical records exchanges. Finally, we are working collaboratively with Social Security and those who handle the digital records for healthcare institutions to expand the number of participants in Social Security’s HIT MER program.

We recently achieved a noteworthy policy victory on HIT MER—expansion to the hearings level with clear guidance on how and when we may ask an OHO to use HIT MER to update the file quickly and without cost. Details can be found here Representative’s Guide for Requesting Health Information Technology Medical Evidence of Record (HIT MER) and you should maintain a link to this directory of providers: HIT MER Database.

Digital Access to Social Security Claim Data

Watch for the launch of a second portal to see information about your cases! We expect “AARPS” to be released in November. The login will be different (login.gov or ID.me) and AARPS will provide access to a complete list of current appointments along with your fee payment history. This will be our first time gaining digital access to payment center data. As you saw from our success in getting some data from the DDS stages into ERE, we expect that limited early information will lead to extensive access later. NOSSCR has been working collaboratively with Social Security on AARPS and pressed for launch of the portal more than a year before planned. Eventually, AARPS will be the sole portal for representatives—so we encourage you to familiarize yourself with it now and establish security protocols for how you will handle using the new login methods. You can count on NOSSCR to be your primary advocates for issues with the new portal, including problems we’ve already identified for certain individuals attempting to use login.gov.

Commissioner O’Malley

As we detailed in our recent NOSSCR PAC Washington Update, we are all aware that Commissioner O’Malley’s current term expires in January. NOSSCR remains in constant communication with the Commissioner and his team (along with all components), and we are doing what we can to support his continued service.

As always, it is a privilege to serve as your professional association’s CEO. Thank you for your membership.