A Christmas Wish List

What I am wishing for in this Christmas season are answers to a few questions:

1. How long is it taking to get a Social Security hearing these days? Can anyone at SSA send me a list showing how long it is taking to get an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing in each of the hearing offices? I think there are quite a few people who would be interested in this.
   
2. What happened to the results of the pilot projects that SSA did some years ago on eliminating the Appeals Council? It is no secret that such studies were done, yet SSA denies having any data produced by these projects. That is odd and surprising. It begs an explanation, yet SSA has not provided an explanation. There is great interest in what will happen when the Appeals Council is abolished, which is likely to start happening in 2006.
3. There have been some signs that SSA may be ready to enforce the requirement that approval be obtained before charging a fee for representing Social Security claimants even if the fee is paid for by the Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance company paying benefits to the claimant. Is SSA ready to bring charges? Are those representing LTD carriers changing the way they do business?

If you can help with my Christmas list, please e-mail me at charles@charleshallfirm.com.