I have heard something about a “page count” limit on scheduling hearings, as in, I think, an ALJ is expected to schedule hearings files encompassing so many pages of records per month rather than a simple number of hearings.
Can anyone enlighten me on how long this has been around and how it’s working? Also, what’s the “page count” quota per month?
By the way, shouldn’t page count figure into fees for representing claimants? They have to trudge through those same huge files.
One thing not appreciated by those who don’t have recent hands on experience with Social Security disability files is just how much medical records have metastasized over the last ten years or so due to medical record-keeping programs and increased specialist referrals, among other things. This has dramatically increased the size of Social Security disability claim files. They’re out of hand.
I am an ALJ and I have never heard of this. When scheduling, they are not supposed to schedule more than 1 hearing with over 2500 pages of medical evidence or more than 2 with 1200 pages of medical evidence. But in reality that is useless, because by the time the files are updated prior to hearing, there are often multiple cases that exceed 1200 or even 2500 pages.
ReplyDeleteMany records are replete with duplicates, with the same docs appearing various times in various sequences. Reps could do a better job of screening for this.
ReplyDeleteObviously, beneficiaries with lots of words are sicker than beneficiaries with fewer words. You have no idea how incredible I started feeling once I stopped double-spacing my documents.
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