SSA’s Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) has expressed to NOSSCR their renewed commitment to reducing hearing processing times—and they are asking for our help. There is currently a large nationwide disparity in hearing wait-times, with 9 hearing offices across the country clocking-in at a stunning processing time of more than 556 days (the goal is 270 days). When claimants opt-in to telephone or online-video hearings (OVH—using Teams), OHO is able to balance workloads across regions, resulting in nationwide wait-time equity, and significantly reducing wait-times for those in the most backlogged regions.

As Appointed Representatives, we are prohibited from unreasonably delaying, or causing to be delayed, without good cause, the processing of a claim at any stage of the administrative decision-making process (20 C.F.R. § 404.1740). While it is always important to honor the claimant’s hearing modality wishes, claimants must be made aware of delays caused by insisting on in-person hearings. OHO has expressed concern that some firms are limiting claimants to only in-person hearings. In general, representatives should seek to avoid “blanket” requests that all hearings be in-person. Instead, representatives should discuss with each claimant the pros and cons of each hearing modality option, including the likelihood of a faster scheduling time with a telephone or online-video (Teams) hearing.

The attached letter from SSA includes a map of average processing times per hearing office. If you have cases in the slowest areas, you should be aware that SSA is focusing attention on the actions of representatives with cases in those hearing offices—particularly, whether firms are insisting on in-person hearings as a blanket policy. You should also revisit whether you are applying caps on your monthly availability that result in slower processing times due to scheduling delays. The difference between a “green” area and a “red” area is more than 280 days of delay for claimants, and our community of representatives should be part of the solution to that disparity.

The data indicates that there has not been a significant decline in award rate due to the increase in telephone and online-video hearings—in fact, 2020-2022 saw some of the highest award rates in recent history. While the overall award rate declined slightly in 2023, it is important to note that the denial rate also declined. A record number of cases were dismissed, which correlates to the significant decline in claimants having representation at the hearing level. Once again, this emphasizes our vital role. We work together with SSA and OHO to support our clients, and we want NOSSCR’s members to be a part of removing the “red” zones from the map.