MEDICARE HEARINGS AND APPEALS.

SEC. 4037. MEDICARE HEARINGS AND APPEALS. (a) Maintaining Current System for Hearings and Appeals.— Any hearing conducted under section 1869(b)(1) of the Social Security Act prior to the earliest of the date on which the Secretary of Health and Human Services submits the report required to be submitted by the Secretary under subsection (l))(l) or September 1 shall be conducted by Administrative Law Judges of the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Social Security Administration in the same manner as are hearings conducted under section 205(b)(1) of such Act. (b) Study and Report on Use of Telephone Hearings.— (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Comptroller General of the United States shall each conduct a study on holding hearings under section 1869(b)(1) of the Social Security Act by telephone and shall each report the results of the study not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. (2) The studies under paragraph (1) shall focus on whether telephone hearings allow for a full and fair evidentiary hearing, in general, or with respect to any particular category of claims and shall examine the possible improvements to the hearing process (such as cost-effectiveness, convenience to the claimant, and reduction in time under the process) resulting from the use of such hearings as compared to the adoption of other changes to the process (such as expansions in staff and resources).