I received a question from a reader who wanted to know why I hadn't posted news from last week's conference of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR), held in Arlington, VA, just outside D.C. The answer is simple. There really wasn't much news. Here's the little I gleaned.
Glenn Sklar, the head of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), said that things were going to get better because the agency was hiring more Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). However, Sklar couldn't give a clear answer when asked if there would be any net improvement after the expected attrition of ALJs retiring, quitting and dying.
Senator Sherrod Brown gave a nice speech, promising to fully support Social Security, including disability benefits but Brown's support was never in question. The problem is on the other side of the aisle.
Ellen Nissenbaum of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) gave a depressing talk about the challenges affecting the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Nothing she said would be news to any regular reader of this blog. I thought she was overly pessimistic, talking almost exclusively about the negative while failing to mention the positive -- that Democrats, to this point, are solidly against significant changes in Social Security disability benefits and Republicans haven't produced a bill. Nissenbaum seemed to think that Republicans might get away with saying they would cut "disability" but not Social Security. I wouldn't bet on that working if I were a Republican running in anything other than an extremely safe district. I can see the TV ad now accusing a Republican of cutting, let's say, $100 billion from Social Security. Would it really work for the Republican to go around complaining that the ad is misleading because the $100 billion would be "disability" instead of Social Security?
Barbara Silverstone, NOSSCR's Executive Director, noted that the attendance at the conference was under 700. In recent years, conference attendance, particularly in D.C., has been around 1,000. The reason the attendance was off wasn't the date or the location or the hotel or anything else like that. It's the fact that it has become extremely challenging to practice Social Security law these days. A fair number of Social Security attorneys are dropping out of the practice. Fewer who are still practicing Social Security law can afford to attend a conference. The next conference is scheduled for the end of October in Denver. That may be the sort of intimate gathering that NOSSCR hasn't seen in decades.
Thanks, Charles, for the news. I wasn't able to attend, but I appreciate the rundown. The general session speeches are the most valuable to me. If NOSSCR could offer a streaming link of just those sessions, I bet there'd be interest in paying for that link. As a sustaining member of NOSSCR for 20 years, I never understood why they have two conferences a year. If they had just one conference a year, like most organizations, participation would be higher. Also, they just had a conference in Washington DC a couple years ago, so some people may didn't want to go back to the same area.
ReplyDeleteI had heard from others who were present that the mood was quite pessimistic. Was it the politics? Do people really think that the Republicans will actually severely gut the disability program? Call me naïve, but I think the pushback would be too politically risky to do anything too drastic.
I know these are challenging times to be a Social Security disability advocate. However, competition for the more established firms is decreasing with other attorneys fleeing from the cash cow practice that it used to be. Yeah, ALJ pay rates are down, but with ODAR backlogs creeping back up, average fees are increasing. We didn't send any attorneys to the conference because we were too busy running a practice. I'd be curious to hear any other reps' opinions...
The lowering of conference attendance has been an issue for well over a year now. NOSSCR, as always, is SLOW to address the issue. These conferences grew when the business side of this practice was on the upside and the growing number of TV firms and especially non-attorney firms started sending large groups to train. I have to believe that NOSSCR membership fees are also down as well with so many of those firms laying off and the business side shrinking. What I am hearing from those in the field is that perhaps there is not much value in the membership. I do think that the cost of membership and a conference fee is really is high in comparison to value. There is no real assistance to members who are having troubles with the agency,(no ombudsman) or communication on what they working on (or not) always seems too little and too late. There is nothing in a newsletter that I haven't already discussed on other lists. I have liked the conferences to mingle, learn and share information with others, but these events are at least a full day too long and topics too often repetitive to go to more than one every couple of years. I have been to other seminars/conferences that were less expensive, but offered more, including maybe meals instead of coffee and snacks. I would much rather go to a 2 day conference or even one day regional conferences/meetings. How about having a dinner with your keynote speaker? However, a sustaining member, who has made all these suggestions in the past, I can tell you that has been little interest in change. I am not sure NOSSCR has much political influence these days either. Are the conferences a revenue source? If NOSSCR really wants us to attend more, make it worth it!
ReplyDeleteDid the conference also offer Continuing Education back in the day making it a reason to attend or was that NADR? Also the death of B&B and the association with NOSSCR may also be playing a part in the decline along with the lower number of practicing reps. So many are just scrapping by the fee for attending do not make good business sense. Those dollars are going to find alternative practice areas that are more lucrative.
ReplyDeleteI still think the NOSSCR Conference is a great value. If you pick up something that can help you win one more case a year, you've paid for the conference costs and then some.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first NOSSCR conference after joining. I found it to be helpful, but I've been practicing for just short of 2 years. BUT I had to pay my own way to the conference, aside from the conference registration fee. Sign of the times I guess...
ReplyDeleteThese NOSSCR conferences are helpful. I have been to about 4 of these. The first 2 are very beneficial. After that, the seminars are pretty much the same.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a great tool to get continuing education credits CLE. Also beneficial to meet other attorneys around the country to network.
I could see condensing it down to 1 big conference possibly in the summer (maybe June or July). But it would be sad for it to go away if not just for the new SSD attorney.