What is NOSSCR?

The National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) is a specialized bar association for attorneys and advocates who represent Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income claimants throughout the adjudicative process. Since 1979, NOSSCR has been providing continuing education to its thousands of members and public policy advocacy on behalf of its members and the people with disabilities they represent. NOSSCR seeks pragmatic, constructive solutions to modernize and improve the Social Security program.

Priorities

NOSSCR wants SSA to resume accepting faxed applications. In August of 2023, SSA announced they would no longer accept faxed applications. Faxing applications is a reliable point of access for vulnerable claimants, especially those without a permanent address.

NOSSCR believes SSA should eliminate reconsideration. In some states, reconsideration adds over 300 additional days of delays and produces identical findings in more than 90% of claims.

SSA should rely on more evidence from treating physicians. Relying on the opinions of treating physicians would help DDS make faster, more accurate medical determinations.

NOSSCR supports a sharing of data between SSA and the VA using the SSA-maintained death index, allowing for a better understanding of the problem of veteran suicide. NOSSCR also supports a restoration of the SSA policy that VA ratings are important evidence that must be considered by judges.

One of NOSSCR’s top priorities is to ensure that the disability claims and appeals process utilizes all the modern tools available to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient decisions. NOSSCR advocates for bringing SSA into the modern era and cutting costs by:

    • Ensuring that Social Security stops using occupational data from the 1970s. SSA must switch from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) to the paid-for and updated Occupational Information System (OIS) so that decisions are based on current jobs information. 
    • Safeguarding claimant personal data while guaranteeing the use of all modern digital tools to make claims processing efficient, including electronic signatures and digital communications channels instead of wasting taxpayer dollars mailing paper notices.   
    • Maximizing the use of HIT (health information technology) to ensure that medical records used by SSA to make disability decisions are as complete as possible, saving time and money and increasing decisional accuracy. 
    • Using modern APIs (application programming interface) so that the various computer systems and programs that SSA employs throughout the disability determination process can communicate in a safe, secure and efficient manner. 
NOSSCR wants to ensure that SSA interacts with the public appropriately, including increasing its capacity to timely answer phone calls, to field in-person questions at field offices, and to provide quality customer service at every level.

Bills Endorsed

S. 770, Social Security Expansion Act

S. 627, Ensuring Nationwide Access to Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act