I posted some information that Social Security had given to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) about a plan for the Appeals Council to give priority in the processing of the cases of certain claimants. The most important category in the plan is claimants 55 and older.
I've noticed and others in my firm have noticed that despite this plan claimants 55 and older don't seem to be getting any special treatment at the Appeals Council. We're starting to ask questions. Here's a note that one legal assistant at my firm put in our database concerning her inquiry about one client:
05/19/16: TC [Telephone Call] to the AC [Appeals Council] and spoke to ____ who told me the case is pending in branch ____. I told her about the new list that NOSSCR has put out this month for expediting AC cases and this case meets that list since the clt is over 55yo. She didn't know anything about it and transferred me to the supervisor, ______. Spoke to her at length and she pulled it up on the blog [this blog] and said they haven't been told anything about it and she doesn't even know how to flag a case for these reasons.
She's going to speak to the Council Ombudsman, Terry Jensen about this and call me back
Priority processing at the Appeals Council: Information published in an article by the SSA and accessed by NOSSCR was not circulated at the Appeals Council. Imagine that.
ReplyDeleteThe AC exists in another world. I remember years ago, calling the AC for status on an appeal that was a year old. When asking how much longer the process would take, my question was repeated to me and in the background there was an explosion of laughter. They don’t know and they really don’t care. What’s important to the AC is their pay grade and lack of accountability. One hopes more discussion of this star chamber (yep, used that word) will eventually expose how dispensable they are.
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