Already Behind?

The Disability Service Improvement plan begins on August 1. The most important element of this plan is the Reviewing Official (RO) position. There is an unconfirmed report that the first ROs will start work on August 7 and will then begin a two month training period. If this is true, it means that once the ROs finish training and start their actual jobs they will be greeted by a large backlog. There has been concern from the beginning that the RO position will dramatically reduce the backlog of claimants waiting for ALJ hearings, by creating a huge backlog of claimants waiting for RO review.