I am very excited to be a part of the pilot program that will allow me to access my clients SSA files over the Internet.  I am sure it will take a while to work out the bugs but I look forward to being a part of what I think will be the biggest improvement in the Social Security Disability process in terms of speeding up the cases.  I will be seeing the new system for the first time in 2 weeks.  My hope is that the VA also starts to move in this direction.  I know that would be a huge undertaking for the VA as their files tend to be a great deal bigger than SSA files but I think if they want to have any chance of keeping up with the case load and eliminate the great amount of lost files it is the only alternative.  I have not heard of any plans to do this at the VA, but I can only hope they will consider this in the future plans of the VA system. 

I am posting today from the NOSSCR conference in Miami.  I normally come away from these conferences with new information to share with you but this one did not excite me all that much.  Most of things discussed about improving the back log of cases was the same as I have posted in the past.  The highlights are more new ALJs and an emphasis on greater case loads for the Administrative Law Judges.  I did not hear anything new from what I have posted in the past about changes in the process.  There is still a strong belief that the new electronic way of doing things should help and I agree.  The problem is there is expected to be an ever increasing amount of cases and so I do not know if the changes will speed things up or just help to keep them at least were they are.  But I think there is a strong effort on SSAa part to do all they can to keep up with the growing load of cases.  I still think the most important improvement will be when all lawyers and claimants can access their file on-line.  The pilot program that i have mentioned before and that I am a part of starts this July.  I will keep you informed as to if it will fulfill its potential promise.