WHAT HAPPENS AT A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY HEARING BY VIDEO (VTC)?

The Social Security Administration has about 1 million hearings scheduled in the United States this year.  1200 administrative law judges work full-time to schedule and conduct these hearings.  Due to the backlog it is taking 20 to 24 months just to get a hearing scheduled.

To try to catch up, Social Security is trying to schedule more hearings by Video-Teleconference (VTC) instead of in-person hearings.  What's the diffference?

At an in-person hearing, the claimant appears in a room with the judge, who is about 10 feet away.  The judge will interview the claimant in person.  Also attending the hearing will the claimant's representative, a hearing clerk and usually a vocational witness, called by Social Security.

The judge will take oral testimony by asking the claimant a long series of questions, which will be recorded.  The claimant's representative or attorney will also ask a lot of questions.  Vocational testimony will then be taken by the vocational expert.  The claimant's representative can then make closing arguments.  The hearing usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes.

A Video-Teleconference follows exactly the same procedure.  The only difference is that the judge will not be in the same room as the claimant and attorney.  The judge may be 10 miles away or 1,000 miles away in another city.  You and the judge will talk to each other over a video communications link where the judge appears on a big screen television.

ADVANTAGES OF A VTC:  a VTC may reduce your wait time, but by only 1 or 2 months on average.  So, instead of waiting about 24 months for an in-person hearing, you may only wait 22 or 23 months.  VTCs do not drastically reduce wait times.

DISADVANTAGES OF A VTC:  

• Most of the time they work fine but occasionally there are equipment or technical failures.  I have seen video links go down that delay hearings for hours.
• In a VTC you are subject to getting a judge from a national processing office (Baltimore, Houston, Atlanta) which your representative may not be familiar with.  Think of this as a "hearing factory" where judges churn out video hearing after video hearing.
• The judge will ask the same questions but may not be able to see the claimant as well as in an in-person hearing.  Likewise, the claimant may not see the judge as well, especially if the judge is one of those who hides behind his computer monitor and peeks out to ask questions.
• AWARD RATES.  The question arises, which judges pay better, the local ones I would see during an in-person hearing or a distant judge I would see on a VTC?  The answer is that no two judges pay alike; some have higher award rates than others.  Some firms who represent claimants nationwide have estimated that they win about 5 percent more awards with in-person hearings than they do with VTCs.  However, if your hearing is scheduled in an office with a very low award rate, you might be even better off with a distant judge and a VTC.  This is a very hard call to make, especially since you don't know who your local judge will be until after it is too late to object to a VTC.

You have a right to opt out of a Video-Teleconference and demand an in-person hearing, but you must do so according to the rules and within the deadline.  This should be a discussion claimants have with their attorneys or representatives when they file a disability appeal.

THE FORSYTHE FIRM
Practice Limited to Social Security Disability
PH (256) 799-0297

 SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE: MAY WE HELP YOU?