Commissioner's Proposed Regulations

[extang]

I am surprised to see positive comments about the electronic folders. Mostly I have seen negative comments on, e.g., the AALJ posting board. I too am something of a fan and much prefer them to paper folders, but find that looking at a computer screen as much as I now do [and why on earth am I looking at one now?] can be pretty hard on my not especially young eyes.

[southerner]

I like electronic folders. The only drawback is when the medical evidence includes VAMC or other extensive documents. It is more of a pain to review evidence that is 100+ pages electronically, though we will adjust as we deal more with it.

[cybear]

I know of no person more erudite and universally well-respected than disability attorney, former ALJ and author Ralph Wilborn. His comments on this subject are worth perusing and provide a thoughtful perspective not otherwise expressed to date in this thread.

You may link to Ralph's comments through Charles Hall's blogsite:

socsecnews.blogspot.com/

under the heading:

January 2, 2008
More Comments On Proposed Procedural Regulations

click on Ralph's name

[testtaker]

News Flash!

(as summarized by Nancy Schor)

On January 29, 2008, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue notified Congress that SSA is suspending the rulemaking process for the proposed rule changing the SSA appeals process. In the letter to Rep. Michael R. McNulty, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Commissioner Astrue stated:

In light of concerns expressed by the public and Members of Congress, we are suspending the rulemaking process for several of the provisions that have become controversial.

The proposed rule was published on October 29, 2007, and the comment period closed on December 28, 2007. More than 500 comments were submitted, with close to unanimous criticism of the proposed rule, in particular, the restrictions on submission of evidence. The vast majority of the comments were submitted by claimants' representatives and disability advocacy groups, expressing concerns based on their own experiences. We thank the hundreds of NOSSCR members who submitted comments.

In the letter, Commissioner Astrue specifically suspended further action on the "five-day rule" for submitting evidence before the hearing and closing the record on appeal "n recognition of the legitimate concerns raised regarding the availability of medical records…." While noting that there should not be "an endlessly open-ended process," he states that SSA "accept that we need to do more work and consultation before proposing new regulations in this area."

The letter notes that SSA will be meeting with claimants' organizations shortly to discuss those provisions that are controversial and those that are not. NOSSCR has been involved in meetings with the agency and will be part of the future meetings.

TERMINATION OF DSI. The January 29th letter also states that SSA is "working on a formal rule terminating the remainder of the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process in the Boston Region." The rule will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the next week. OMB has 90 days to review the rule. Over the past year, NOSSCR members in Region I states have expressed concerns about many aspects of the DSI process. DSI includes a five-day rule for submission of evidence before the hearing and also ended a claimant's right to administrative review of an unfavorable ALJ decision.

Note: Until the notice terminating DSI is formally published, the DSI process at the ALJ level and beyond remains in place.