The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have issued a joint memorandum to federal agencies providing guidelines on resuming more normal operations once the immediate threat posed by Covid-19 declines.
One important point is that there's not going to be some national order to re-open all the agencies all over the country at the same time regardless of local conditions and regardless of state and local stay at home orders. The memo says that "State and regional assessments should be the starting point for discussions and decisions related to Federal agency operations, but additional factors may include: school and daycare closures, mass transit availability, parking availability, facility requirements, and missions." That doesn't require deference to state and local stay at home orders but it certainly suggests that will be the case.
The memo also indicates that it may be necessary for agencies to apply different rules for employees 65 and older because they face heightened risks from Covid-19.
I wonder if Social Security should also apply different rules to claimants who are older or immunocompromised. Maybe they should be afforded telephone hearings even after in person hearings are resumed. I don't know what the odds are for a person who gets Covid-19 while on immunosuppressive medication because of a history of an organ transplant but they're probably very bad.
10 comments:
I was hoping this memo would address employees who reside with spouses or others in high-risk populations, since SSA deliberately chose not to consider that factor when addressing its operations earlier this year. But I guess employees' family members are expendable? Or does the federal government intend to provide employees with extra funds to rent second residences?
65 and older ???
COVID-19 risk of mortality starts increasing long before age 65. Age 50 is when the risks start increasing and especially by age 60.
Does anyone really trust Andrew Saul to make the right decision on this, or will he try end telework prematurely? He has already shown last fall that he hates telework, wants it to end, and doesn't care about how employees feel.
@8:38 AM
Correct. And contrary to what a certain state's governor said, there have been numerous deaths of individuals in all age ranges (including children as young as 5 years old). But reality isn't politically expedient in these circumstances. And rest assured Saul himself won't be returning to an office anytime soon.
The folks running the show at the PPO are kids in their 20s, with many so young their brains aren't even fully formed biologically, including a CURRENT STUDENT (let that sink in) at Liberty University (i.e., the Fallwells' cult compound). So yeah, this is going to be an unmitigated disaster.
Albany, NY and Orlando, FL OHOs have stated that all hearings through end of August will be held via telephone. Unclear if that is the individual OHO decision or if SSA HQ decision.
Phone hearings can be a disaster -- claimants are not able to see or be seen, and are at extreme disadvantage in conveying their symptoms and limitations. Video hearings are somewhat better, not optimal. Please don't advocate for phone hearings when this is over.
@1:11 PM
I'm not suggesting that your concerns aren't valid, but based on my experience, I think you may greatly overestimate the value of an in-person or video appearance. Sure, there are some judges who don't spend much time reviewing the medical records, and instead try to base their decisions on what the claimant looks like when they enter the hearing room. But in my experience, most judges look right past whatever grand performance the claimant puts on during the hearing, and base their decisions on what the medical records say. And even most of the lazy ones just adopt whatever DDS said, rather than what they see during the hearing. So on balance, I'd say telephone hearings should be encouraged for as long as is practicable until we have a good handle on this coronavirus situation. After all, those SSI/DIB payments aren't going to be worth much to your clients anyway if they turn around and die on a ventilator before the first check arrives.
Anon 1:11 "Phone hearings can be a disaster"? Not in my experience. I have been conducting phone hearings since late March. There have been some hiccups mainly technical difficulties on OHO's part.
But for the most part, they have run smooth. In fact, it seems less stressful for some of these severely disabled claimants to truck to these locations.
If a client uses an assistive device like cane or wheelchair, I always try to get a picture in before the hearing. That is the main thing missing with phone hearings. Presumably ALJs are not robots and can feel some way actually seeing the claimant hobble into the hearing. But if it is a psych case, then all I care about is the testimony.
I still prefer in person hearings. But to call it a disaster is being an alarmist.
@2:52, you nailed it.
@6:03, you shouldn't have to submit a picture of a wheelchair, walker,or cane. That should be in the re ord at some point, whether the provider prescribing the device or one or more providers noting your client's use of the device. Claimants show up to hearings with any number of devices, whether assistive, oxygen, various braces, etc. If those things never appear in the record or worse, their doctors say they don't need them.
I also agree they're not a disaster. They're a distant third behind in-person or video, but they're preferable in many cases to kicking them down the road 4-5 months, particularly for those individuals getting benefits out of phone hearings.
@ 12:37, offices in R5 have also been notified of phone hearings thru the end of August.
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