Report in Support of Recommendation 78 - 2 Report to the Grants and Benefits Committee on the Social Security Hearings and Appeals Process

This report is based on a study done by the National Center for Administrative Justice and commissioned by the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration. The Center's study was designed to analyze the hearing system available to disappointed claimants under Titles II, XVI and XVIII of the Social Security Act and to make recommendations for improvement in the accuracy, timeliness and efficiency of adjudications. The study focused almost exclusively on disability determinations under Title II and Title XVI, which comprise well over 90% of the hearing caseload of the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals (BHA). The focus of this report and its recommendations are similarly limited. The Center's study is available to the Committee and the Conference. This report therefore will not attempt to summarize that study, nor will it be organized in quite the same way as the underlying study. Rather this report extracts recommendations from the study and provides a statement of the "basis and purpose" of the selected recommendations.