FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Harry M. Seidman
202.480.2085
hseidman@acus.gov
Social Security Administration Proposed Rule to Expand Video Teleconference Hearings to Reduce Wait Times and Administrative Costs Relies Extensively on ACUS Work
The Social Security Administration (SSA) proposed a rule that seeks to expand its use of video teleconference hearings in disability cases. This change will help SSA manage its hearings workload more efficiently by shifting cases among hearing offices, which will even out workloads and reduce wait times. The reform will help address recent increases in the wait times for individual hearings. SSA relies extensively on several ACUS recommendations and studies, including Recommendation 2011-4, Agency Use of Video Hearings: Best Practices and Possibilities for Expansion, and an ACUS-sponsored publication titled Handbook on Best Practices for Using Video Teleconferencing in Adjudicatory Hearings, which was developed in accordance with Recommendation 2014-7, Best Practices for Using Video Teleconferencing for Hearings. SSA indicated that it will “consult ACUS’s recommendations as it modernizes its infrastructure” for video teleconference hearings and explained that ACUS has “repeatedly recommended” increased use of video teleconference hearings. If implemented, the proposal will reduce overall wait times for disability applicants and will result in administrative savings of $118 million over a 10-year period.
About ACUS
The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research and providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of senior federal officials, academics, and other experts from the private sector. Except for the Chairman, all Conference Members are unpaid.
The Conference is committed to promoting effective public participation and efficiency in the rulemaking process by leveraging interactive technologies and encouraging open communication with the public as well as making improvements to the regulatory process by reducing unnecessary litigation, and improving the use of science and the effectiveness of applicable laws.
Learn more at www.acus.gov.
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