Lupus Foundation On Five Day Rule

From the Centre Daily Times of Pennsylvania:

As part of its mission to provide service, support and hope to all people affected by lupus, the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) submitted comments today to Commissioner Michael Astrue of the Social Security Administration (SSA), regarding a proposed change to the rules which could make it more difficult for people appealing a social security determination.

The proposed rule would require medical evidence to be submitted 5 days before an administrative hearing. Under the proposed rule, if the medical evidence was not received by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) within 5 days of the hearing, applicants could be forced to file new applications to ensure that relevant evidence was considered, rather than continuing the appeals process. This could cause months or years of delays, loss of retroactive benefits, and in some cases result in a complete denial of benefits. ...

The symptoms of lupus make diagnosis difficult because they are sporadic and imitate the symptoms of many other illnesses. Because of the unique and complicated diagnosis of lupus, the LFA is concerned that if the proposed re-opening rules are enacted, individuals will not be allowed to submit medical evidence less than five business days before the administrative hearing.