Director, Division of Field Procedures

0960-AI09 201810 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 0960 Social Security Administration SSA Setting the Manner for the Appearance of Parties and Witnesses at a Hearing

We propose to revise and unify some of the rules that govern how, where, and when individuals appear for hearings before an administrative law judge at the hearings level and before a disability hearing officer at the reconsideration level of our administrative review process. At both levels, when we schedule a hearing, we propose that we will determine the manner in which the parties to the hearing will appear: by VTC, in person, or, under limited circumstances, by telephone. We would not permit individuals to opt out of appearing by VTC. We also propose that we would determine the manner in which witnesses to a hearing will appear.

]]> Other Significant Previously Published in The Unified Agenda Proposed Rule Stage Undetermined Undetermined Fully or Partially Exempt 20 CFR 404.914 20 CFR 404.929 20 CFR 404.936 20 CFR 404.938 20 CFR 404.950 20 CFR 404.976 20 CFR 416.1414 20 CFR 416.1429 20 CFR 416.1436 20 CFR 416.1438 20 CFR 416.1450 20 CFR 416.1476 ... 42 U.S.C. 401(j) 42 U.S.C. 404(f) 42 U.S.C. 405(a) to 405(b) 42 U.S.C. 405(d) to 405(h) 42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5) ... Yes

With just over 880,000 individuals waiting for a hearing before an administrative law judge, we must ensure that we make the best use our resources to decrease the number of pending cases, reduce the average wait time, and significantly improve our service to the American public. Expanding our use of VTC technology would enable us to schedule many hearings sooner. This not only reduces the delays in claimants waiting for a hearing, but also gives us more flexibility in scheduling and allocating resources for in-person hearings to those cases that truly warrant an in-person, rather than a VTC, hearing. Some travel costs may be reduced as well, since there may be less need for in-person hearings to areas that can be serviced by more VTC hearings instead.

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Administrative not required by statute or court order.

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To be determined.

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We anticipate increased administrative and adjudicatory efficiency benefiting a reduction in hearing delays.

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To be determined.

]]> NPRM 10/00/2018 No No None No No No No Susan Swansiger Director, Division of Field Procedures 0960 Social Security Administration SSA 703 605-8500 susan.j.swansiger@ssa.gov Office of Hearing Operations, 250 E Street SW, Washington DC 20024