Rick Fleming, NOSSCR President

At the beginning of Commissioner O’Malley’s term NOSSCR sent a list of its policy priorities and proposed solutions. As we near the end of the fiscal year, this is a good opportunity to review all that we have been able to accomplish together in FY 23-24 which, I believe you will agree, is a great deal.

Whether it is changes to policy on collateral estoppel, ISM, 15 to 5, electronic signatures, the fee cap increase and its being tied to an annual COLA, or the sixteen other incredible improvements, the progress we have made is staggering. Together in partnership with senior leadership at SSA, NOSSCR and like-minded organizations joined forces and sat down to do the hard work. These changes improve the program as well as the lives of both claimants and their representatives.  But there remains much to be done. 

At its September Board meeting in Washington, D.C., the Board voted on its updated policy priorities for 2024-25, one of which I would like to highlight, and that is the cost of medical records. For far too long those most in need of help are taxed by for-profit medical record companies, many times to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars. The burden imposed on claimants who are unable to access their own records is immense. Behind the scenes NOSSCR continues to be hard at work to address this issue. Stay tuned. 

I would like to thank our hard-working Board of Directors, the NOSSCR staff, and our members for all of the effort that has gone in to the changes you are now seeing in your practice. Great things can happen when we join together. Your membership in NOSSCR makes us better and amplifies our voice, and your contributions to the NOSSCR Foundation and the NOSSCR PAC allow us to take our advocacy to Woodlawn and the Hill. If you are interested in increasing your membership from regular to sustaining, or if you are interested in endowing a scholarship or litigation fund, or speaking at an upcoming seminar please reach out to us at nosscr@nosscr.org. 

Beginning next month there will be calls to action, and I look forward to continuing our work together.