Acosta

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Social Security)

Plaintiff has filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 405 (g) seeking review of the decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (Commissioner) denying his application for supplemental security income benefits (SSI) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. Defendant has answered and the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons discussed below, I conclude that the Commissioner’s decision should be reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff filed an application for SSI benefits in October 1993, claiming to have been disabled since August 23, 1993, due to an abdominal hernia, low back pain, headaches, and chest pain. (Administrative Record (A.R.) 27, 32, 38, 53.) His application was denied initially and upon reconsideration. At a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) on June 27, 1995, plaintiff, who was unrepresented, appeared and gave testimony. (A.R.16, 38-48.)

In a written decision dated October 2, 1995, the ALJ found that plaintiff had the following severe impairments: hypertension, diabetes, an umbilical hernia, and chronic low back pain. He…