Since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown most of the country, including Social Security offices, which have remained closed to visitors since mid March, the agency has been lenient on Social Security disability claimants who miss their hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), but as of September 1, 2020 it appears the leniency is over.
Social Security instituted new dismissal procedures that will allow ALJs to more easily dismiss cases for claimants who miss hearings. Once offices closed Social Security banned in-person hearings and moved to have all disability hearings by phone. This required a claimant to agree to a phone hearing prior to the hearing date otherwise the hearing would be postponed and rescheduled at a later time. Even if Social Security could not reach a claimant prior to the hearing the hearing was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. Prior to the pandemic if a claimant was a “no show” for their hearing an ALJ would issue a notice to show cause and if the claimant did not offer a valid reason for missing the hearing the ALJ would dismiss the claim. Now Social Security is doing the same thing even though only telephone hearings are possible. Below is Social Security’s announcement of the new procedures.
We continue to recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may give rise to circumstances that may constitute good cause for missing an appeal deadline or failing to appear at a scheduled hearing. On August 31, 2020, we provided guidance to hearings offices that administrative law judges may resume issuing dismissals for late-filing of a hearing or failure to appear at a hearing.
To ensure hearing offices are appropriately issuing these types of dismissals (late filing or failure to appear at a hearing), hearing offices will now develop the record for good cause by issuing a Request to Show Cause for Late Filing or Failure to Appear notice.
This added step provides one more opportunity, beyond our COVID-19 emergency procedures, for claimants to provide good cause for failure to meet filing deadlines or to appear at their telephone hearings. In addition to this added step for late-filing/failure-to-appear dismissals, we have temporarily expanded our traditional in-line quality reviews of hearing dispositions to focus on ensuring that dismissals are policy-compliant.
During the pandemic Social Security also suspended Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs) and age 18 redeterminations. Social Security conducts periodic CDRs on people who have been awarded disability benefits after a certain period of time to determine if that person is still disabled and entitled to benefits and age 18 redeterminations for child claims once the child turns 18. In both instances Social Security will look at updated medical information and issue a new decision. This practice was put on hold during the pandemic, but Social Security announced that it would reinstate these procedures.
Although Social Security offices remain closed it appears that the agency is getting close to how it operated prior to the pandemic and is no longer putting these types of reviews on hold any longer even though the pandemic really has no signs of slowing down or coming to an end.
