I admit when I am wrong. Ask anybody who knows me.
In a recent blog post praising the Portland, Maine Hearing office for its spectacular performance for average claim processing time, I also said:
If there is a downside to this remarkable performance, I think the Portland hearing office has become less receptive to on the record requests. I file an on the record request from time to time, when the medical evidence is particularly strong or when the claimant is over 50 years old and would grid favorably under the Medical-Vocational guidelines. I haven't been getting these granted lately, and it may be that there is little incentive to grant an OTR request when a hearing would be just a few months away.
Okay, I take that back.
I just received a fully favorable decision in the mail today from the Portland hearing office, as a result of a recent on the record request. Admittedly, it was a very strong case. But I was wrong to surmise in my earlier post that the Portland hearing office was not giving OTR requests full consideration.
However, it may be that the Portland ODAR got the last word on this matter. The fully favorable decision, which I was very pleased to receive in today's mail, arrived postage due.
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