Chicago Regional Office of Hearings and Appeals Claimant Medical Files

Objective: To review specific concerns identified in letters dated July 21, 2003 and August 5, 2003 to the Inspector General from Representatives from the State of Wisconsin. Generally, the concerns pertained to

• disposition of disability cases involving discarded medical records in the Office of Hearings and Appeals’ (OHA) Chicago Regional Office;
• identification of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) policies concerning security checks of contractors, removal and use of claimants’ files from SSA offices, and OHA Chicago Regional Office compliance with these policies; and
• determining SSA or private contractor responsibility for the decision to discard claimants’ files.