Video Hearing (VH) Opt-Out Numbers and Rates for Hearing Requests Received FY 2020

This dataset contains counts of hearing request receipts in the months shown and objections to appearing at the hearing by video teleconferencing (VTC) known as “opt outs”.

When hearing offices receive a request for a hearing, they send an acknowledgement notice to the claimant and any representative.  With the acknowledgement, a form is provided to the claimant/ representative with the opportunity to object to appearing by VTC, or to “opt out of” a video hearing, within 30 days of receiving the notice (or later if good cause is found).

Considering the minimum 30-day wait time, mailing time, and hearing office processing time, we wait 90 days before reporting the opt out number and percentage for any given month.  This is why the data shown in the table reflect the receipts for work months completed at least 90 days ago.  It should be noted, though that, even with the 90-day lag time, some VH opt outs may continue to be recorded for receipts in any month.  As a result, the number of VH opt outs and the percentages shown are subject to change.

NOTE: In the interest of more efficient management information reporting, effective with the FY 2020 report, this report will use opt-out requests posted in a given month as compared to receipts in that same month to arrive at the opt-out rates. This is the same opt-out rate calculation method used for internal OHO reporting and means that we no longer need to wait for 90 days before reporting on opt-outs received.

Download this dataset in the XML format:

XML

Month
Receipts
VH Opt-Outs
% Opt-Out
October 2019
39,002
14,320
37%
November 2019
42,773
15,864
37%
December 2019
32,627
12,011
37%
January 2020
43,070
14,196
33%
February 2020
39,578
13,897
35%
March 2020
37,443
11,821
32%
April 2020
29,831
10,831
36%
May 2020
38,544
12,379
32%
June 2020
34,054
11,165
33%
July 2020
37,240
12,134
33%
August 2020
28,472
9,258
33%
September 2020
26,176
7,692
29%
FY 2020
428,810
145,568
34%

 

Disclaimer: These data are being made publicly available for research purposes. Any findings and conclusions derived from analyses of these data are attributable to the researcher(s) and do not reflect those of the Social Security Administration.