Ten United States senators wrote a letter to Nancy Berryhill, Social Security’s deputy commissioner of operations who is temporarily leading the agency, to oppose any plans Social Security has to reinstate the Request for Reconsideration phase of the Social Security disability process in the 10 states that scrapped that step years ago. The states that were allowed to get rid of the Reconsideration phase are Alabama; Alaska; California (Los Angeles North and Los Angeles West branches only); Colorado; Louisiana; Michigan; Missouri; New Hampshire; New York; and Pennsylvania.
In most states when a disability claimant is denied on an initial application, the first appeal is called the Request for Reconsideration, but in these states if an applicant was denied they could appeal and request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), something people in other states could only do after being denied at the Reconsideration phase.
The 10 senators, who are comprised of both Democrats and Republicans, included Robert Casey Jr.; Margaret Hassan; Lisa Murkowski; Jeanne Shaheen; Gary Peters; Charles Schumer; Michael Bennet; Debbie Stabenow; Doug Jones; and Kirsten Gillibrand.
In the letter, the senators contend that by reinstating the Reconsideration phase in the 10 states that skip that step would increase delays people face in those states due to an even more prolonged disability process.
“We are deeply concerned by any policy that would worsen already staggering wait times in the processing of disability applications, as more than 1 million Americans wait for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge,” the letter said.
There is an extremely small approval rating for claimants at the Reconsideration phase and it could speed-up the process if Social Security decided to get rid of the Reconsideration phase in all states. The senators asked for a quick response to the letter and to be further briefed on the matter.
