Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

January/February 2001

Breakout Features Time for Hearing Officers to Meet
by Sherry Sheeley, Colorado DDS

AT THE RECENT NADE TRAINING Conference in Puerto Rico, the DDS Hearing Officers met for a breakout session to discuss pending issues. Once again, the discussion pointed to many variances in the Disability Hearing Units throughout the nation. Some states are dealing with decreased workloads and reassigning different DDS duties to Hearing Officers. These reassignments include: processing initial claims, preparing RFCs in initial and reconsideration cases, training, and QA duties, and assignments as line supervisors.

Case production varies from 30 to 50 hearings per months per hearing officer in Mississippi to three per week in California. Many States expect approximately four hearings per week per hearing officer. Some states are using video conferencing for hearings.

Several participants raised the point that the thought processes for handling different types of cases (initial, reconsideration, CDR, and hearing cases) make processing a mixture of cases difficult.

Salaries vary widely from state to state along with job classification ranking in the DDS hierarchy of job classifications. Reimbursement for travel ranges from one week to six weeks. Other issues discussed included safety concerns, handling medical emergencies, and setting up the interview room.

Hearing officers agreed that a there is a need for a central place for sharing information concerning the hearing process. Suggestions included the SSA Library Intranet or the Policynet. Many Hearing Officers are making “medical equals” decisions without the medical consultant signature. This issue was raised at last year’s Hearing Officers Conference in Annapolis and several Hearing Officers felt that this was within the jurisdiction of a Hearing Officer. This annual breakout of Hearing Officers was considered an fruitful and insightful gathering to share ideas.