As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, there have been a few developments. They include:
• Social Security will conduct all of their disability hearings at the Tucson office via telephone through the end of August 2020. If you are scheduled for a hearing this summer, count on doing it from your home over the telephone. Alternatively, you can refuse and wait until the office reopens. Bear in mind that if you do refuse, there is no telling when Social Security will reschedule you. I would count on it being in 2021.
• Social Security will apparently not be holding hearings on continuing disability reviews (CDRs) at this time. A CDR occurs when Social Security checks on a disability benefits recipient to see if she is still disabled. Unless the CDR hearing is likely to result in a continuation of the benefits, Social Security will simply postpone the hearing. If you are under a CDR, take advantage of this delay to get your medical information up to date. If you have not seen your doctor lately, go now.
• Social Security claims they are cutting into their disability backlog during the pandemic. They say that their workers are more productive at home than they were when they reported to an office each morning. It’s a bit hard to believe, but good news if true. Maybe we should keep Social Security workers at home permanently.
That’s it for this week. Stay indoors, stay safe, and ignore anything the President says.
