NOSSCR Opposes Mandatory Telephone Hearings

     From a letter from the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) to Social Security’s Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) and the Chief Administrative Law Judge (CALJ):

Some of our members have been told that SSA [Social Security Administration] plans to change its policy of making telephone hearings voluntary, perhaps as soon as April 27. This is not acceptable to NOSSCR and we urge you to clarify as soon as possible that telephone hearings remain optional. Claimants who want to wait for in-person hearings (or video hearings, if they have not submitted an HA-55 opt-out form) should be permitted to do so.

     In case it's not clear to you, let me spell out the subtext. NOSSCR is concerned that ALJ hearings will become mandatory not just for the current emergency but from now on; that the agency will use this emergency to  achieve an unrelated goal.