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.

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%