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With so much technology now on-hand for so many different
aspects of our daily lives, it should come as no surprise that it plays a heavy
roll in the work of Social Security disability representatives. SSA has made
several tools available online that help them closely monitor and develop your
disability claim.
Electronic Records
Express (“ERE”)
This program can be used by anyone who is going through, or
helping someone go through, a disability claim. If you have a computer and a
scanner, you can submit medical records and other correspondence directly to
SSA through this designated website.
The ERE website accepts medical records, representative
correspondence, claimant correspondence, school records, representative briefs,
requests for hearing postponement or change in location, address changes, and
forms SSA sends to claimants for completion, which often include their own
barcode that must be used.
During all stages of claim adjudication, a disability claimant
is issued a paper barcode. This is placed on top of whatever document you are
scanning to submit. On the barcode itself are codes you would type where
prompted on the website. Once you submit the information, it is received by SSA
immediately and exhibited in your exhibit file. You also get a confirmation you
can print out and keep with your submission.
Electronic Folders
In the past, attorneys relied on paper exhibit files that
must be copied from a claimant’s master file kept by Social Security. Your
exhibit file contains your entire procedural history, notes made by SSA
employees regarding your claim, your correspondence with SSA, and your medical
records. Paper files were time-consuming (and paper-consuming!) to obtain, and
if there was a problem with SSA’s copy machine, you were out of luck until it
was repaired.
Later, SSA began sending representatives exhibit files on
CD’s that could be opened on a computer. These were troublesome, however. If
the SSA employee who made the disc did not do it correctly, it will not open
and a new disc would have to be requested. Sometimes SSA would mail the discs
and the representative would never receive it – very troublesome when you are
dealing with an impending hearing.
Today, your exhibit file can be obtained by your
representative through another dedicated website, Appointed Representative
Services. Once requested, the file is ready for viewing within 48 hours. It can
be downloaded for easy viewing into PDF form, so your representative can view
your entire file on a computer or tablet. If your representative has Adobe Pro,
he or she can also make electronic notes on the exhibit file. Now instead of
lugging a big paper file to court (which can sometimes be over 1,000 pages),
your representative can bring up particular exhibits with ease in the
courtroom.
Hearing Office and
Appeals Council Status Reports
Instead of calling the hearing offices or the Appeals
Council of Social Security to check the status of your claim, your
representative can now download a report that tells him or her exactly what is
going on with your claim.
Hearing office reports can tell the representative what
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) is assigned to your case, if a hearing has been
scheduled yet, where it will take place, and how close the ALJ is to issuing a
decision after a hearing is held.
Since the Appeals Council can take anywhere from 15 to 18
months to review an ALJ’s decision, the Appeals Council Status Reports are
particularly helpful. These can tell a representative is an analyst has been
assigned, if the case is being worked up, or if a decision has been made.
The great thing about these tools is, by making the more
mundane tasks of developing a disability claim easier, your representative can
dedicate greater time to the real meat of your case. Our office staff in
particular is well-versed in these tools that SSA offers, and we look forward
to continuing to serve our clients in the most efficient capacity possible!
Written by Anna Westfall
