The theory behind AO review is that strong cases which should have been granted at the reconsideration stage will be caught and granted without the long wait for a hearing. The AO will be responsible for developing the file of unrepresented claimants and, when the claimant has a representative, assuring that the representative fully develops the case and "certifies" the record as complete. If the case is not granted by the AO it will be sent on to the Administrative Law Judge for a hearing. In theory, the hearing will be held in 30 to 60 days after leaving the AO.
Since the AO does not have authority to deny cases, claimants should
not be prejudiced by this new level of review. However, rather than speeding
up claims processing, except for those whose cases are granted by the AO,
it may result in simply one more step of review that produces another time-consuming
wait before the hearing. Moreover, there are additional possible pitfalls.
For example, what if the record is "certified" as complete but before the
hearing additional relevant evidence is discovered? Only time will tell
whether this new program will really benefits beleaguered claimants who
all too often have to wait two years or more for their claims to be resolved.