SSA Extends Expiration Date for Temporary Pilot Program

Targeted News Service

WASHINGTON, July 18 -- The U.S. Social Security Administration published the following rule in the Federal Register:

Extension of Expiration Date for Temporary Pilot Program Setting the Time and Place for a Hearing Before an Administrative Law Judge

A Rule by the Social Security Administration on 07/18/2014

Publication Date: Friday, July 18, 2014

Agency: Social Security Administration

Dates: This final rule is effective July 18, 2014.

Effective Date: 07/18/2014

Entry Type: Rule

Action: Final rule.

Document Citation: 79 FR 41881

Page: 41881 -41883 (3 pages)

CFR: 20 CFR 404

20 CFR 416

Agency/Docket Number: Docket No. SSA-2014-0034

RIN: 0960-AH67

Document Number: 2014-16782

Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-16782

Action

Final Rule.

Summary

We are extending for one year our pilot program that authorizes the agency to set the time and place for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Extending the pilot program continues our commitment to improve the efficiency of our hearing process and provide accurate, high-quality decisions for claimants. The current pilot program will expire on August 9, 2014. In this final rule, we are extending the expiration date to August 10, 2015. We are making no other substantive changes.

DATES:

This final rule is effective July 18, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rainbow Forbes, Social Security Administration, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3260, 703-605-8100 for information about this final rule. For information on eligibility for filing for benefits, call our national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or visit our Internet site, Social Security Online, at http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Over the past several years, one of our highest priorities has been to improve the efficiency of our hearing process for the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs under title II of the Social Security Act (Act) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program under title XVI of the Act. Toward that end, we began a pilot program in July 2010 (75 FR 39154), under which the agency, rather than the ALJ, may set the time and place of the hearing under certain circumstances. Because we expect to continue to face significant challenges in dealing with the historically large number of hearing requests, we must maintain programs and policies that can provide us with the flexibility we need to improve the efficiency of our hearing process.

On November 10, 2008, we published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend our rules to allow the agency to set the time and place for a hearing before an ALJ. (73 FR 66564). Following receipt of public comments, we issued a final rule on July 8, 2010. (75 FR 39154). Under the rule, the agency acquired the authority to set the time and place for a hearing before an ALJ. In the rule, we explained that we would implement our authority to set the time and place for a hearing before an ALJ as a temporary pilot program. Therefore, we included in sections 404.936(h) and 416.1436(h) of the final rule a provision that the pilot program would end on August 9, 2013, unless we decided to either terminate the program earlier, or extend it beyond that date by publication of a final rule in the Federal Register. On July 29, 2013, we extended the sunset date of the program until August 9, 2014. [1] (78 FR 45451).

Explanation of Extension

During the pilot program, we track ALJ productivity closely. We work with our ALJs to address any concerns about our hearing process. In situations where hearings were not being promptly scheduled, we worked with ALJs to correct these situations, and we continue to work with some ALJs on scheduling hearings with the expectation of using all authorities available. To date, our efforts to correct situations have been largely successful. We our retaining this authority in order to provide us with the flexibility we need to manage the hearing process appropriately. We consider the pilot program an important tool to better manage the number of hearings held and keep our hearing process as efficient as possible in our overall effort to reduce hearing backlogs.

During this extension of the pilot program, we will continue to monitor the productivity of ALJs, and we will continue to work with our ALJs to address any concerns regarding our hearing process. Accordingly, we are extending our authority to set the time and place for a hearing before an ALJ for another year, until August 10, 2015. As before, we are reserving the authority to end the program earlier, or to extend it by publishing a final rule in the Federal Register.

[*Federal RegisterVJ 2014-07-18]

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