Laura Beth Waller, NOSSCR Chief Strategy Officer

On November 13, 2024, NOSSCR, including Board Member Ashley Sappenfield (pictured) and Non-Profit Member Brian Hogan, joined members of the advocacy community in Woodlawn to meet with Commissioner O’Malley and senior SSA leadership for updates on overpayment reform, the field office appointment model, and a reconsideration proof of concept being tested at DDS in three states.

Overpayment Waivers

We are pleased that a new Request to Waive an Overpayment Form (SSA-632-BK) is in the works. The new form will be nearly all check-box format, greatly reducing the burden on the claimant and their representative to complete lengthy narrative responses and eliminating the need for claimants to provide proof of expenses. We believe that this form meets our advocacy goal and the agency’s objective of eliminating the presumption that the claimant was at fault in generating the overpayment. The tentative release date for the new form is April 2025.

SSA is also working on rewriting waiver policies, which includes reducing more than 70 public-facing POMS sections to about 30 public-facing sections. The target publication date is January 6, 2025, and the agency anticipates detailed staff re-training in conjunction with this release.

These changes would not have been possible without the persistence and dedicated work from the greater advocacy community, including those present at this monthly collaboration session: Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Justice in Aging, NADR, AARP, Empire Justice Center, New York Legal Assistance Group, West Tennessee Legal Services, ASSIST Program, Disability Law Center, Legal Council for Health Justice, Bay Area Legal Aid, and National Disability Institute.

Appointment Focused Service Model

SSA is transitioning to an appointment focused service model at field offices. The purpose is to expand the use of appointments in the agency’s community-based field offices to include all field office workloads. 370 offices have already implemented appointment focused service. Expanded implementation is expected in January 2025. SSA will educate the public on the need to schedule appointments, including engaging local communities, placing signs in field offices, and updating agency webpages.

You may have seen a recent Dear Colleague Letter, released the same day as our meeting. This letter clarifies that those who cannot or do not want to make an appointment will not be turned away, particularly vulnerable populations, military personnel, people with terminal illnesses, and others with situations requiring immediate or specialized attention.

We encourage you to reach out to us at nosscr@nosscr.org if you encounter a claimant being turned away for same-day service.

Reconsideration Level Claim Proof of Concept

At Reconsideration in Arkansas, Idaho, and Missouri, claimants and their representatives now have the opportunity to request expedited processing of a Disability Determination Ready Claim (DDRC) upon certification that the claim is fully developed and ready for a decision. The Proof of Concept started on November 18 and is expected to run for three months. A DDRC will go through expedited processing (like claimants with a 100% VA Permanent and Total disability rating or a Terminal Illness).

Indicating that a claim is a DDRC involves filing a Request for Reconsideration along with the new Disability Determination Ready Claim Certification Statement (Form SSA-295), submitting any outstanding medical evidence and an updated SSA-827, consenting to attend a consultative examination, if needed, and certifying that claim is fully developed.

If the examiner realizes something is missing, the claimant or representative will have ten days to complete the file. However, there is no penalty for failing to complete the file—it will simply go into regular, rather than expedited, Reconsideration.

We encourage our members with clients in Arkansas, Idaho, and Missouri to participate and give us feedback—good or bad. We are optimistic that DDRC processing could reduce the extraordinarily long processing times at Reconsideration, getting claimants the benefits they deserve earlier.