Congressional Response Report: Reasons for Hearing-related Delays
June 05, 2017
Office Affiliation: The Office of Audit
Audit Report Number: A-05-17-50268
On November 17, 2016, we received a letter from the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security, House Ways and Means Committee, asking how claimants who fail to appear or postpone scheduled hearings affected SSA’s hearings backlog. The Chairman had seven specific questions. The Chairman also noted that claimants who fail to appear or postpone their scheduled hearings without good reason not only delay the processing of their own cases, they use scarce resources. As of March 2017, about 1.1 million claimants were awaiting a hearing decision.