Social Security proposes making virtual benefit hearings permanent (Federal Times)

Social Security proposes making virtual benefit hearings permanent – By Molly Weisner (Federal Times) / May 22, 2023

The Social Security Administration wants to make video and phone hearings for beneficiaries a permanent option to shorten wait times and offer more flexibility to the public.

The administration, via a Federal Register notice, said it had success with almost a million telephone and online video appearances during the COVID–19 pandemic and realized that keeping virtual hearings an option would benefit agency staff and claimants seeking disability.

The agency’s proposal to double-down on preserving virtual operations comes at a time when all of government is looking inward at its pandemic-era workflows. The White House and Congress have ideologically clashed over whether to recall employees to offices, and employees have vouched in several surveys that the ability to work from home saves them time, money and stress.

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