Hi Beverley, I just looked up what ALJ Hearing means, so now I understand.
It is so unfair that people who need the most obvious assistance and understanding are denied it, and then you have to pay to get what is rightfully yours.
In Australia we have a different system, with rising levels of appeal.

Another example. My daughter is housebound, but still needs to have regular consultations with her GP. He doesn't do house calls, and she can't leave the house, so they arrange phone consults. That is fine, except that there is no medicare rebate for phone consults!
A fit and healthy person can go as often as they like to their GP and get free treatment for the most trivial things.

My seriously ill daughter has to space her phone consults out so she is well enough to do them, and has to pay the full price out of her pension.
This is so unfair and unreasonable that I have lodged a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. They have now taken it to the medical body for comment.
You may also have a similar option if the hearing fails.

My daughter has a chat group for ME sufferers, and some of them are too ill to even do emails more than a few times a year, and cannot make or receive phone calls. so how can they be expected to handle their affairs? We were fortunate to be able to get an advocacy group to contact them so that they can represent them at social services, and housing departments. I had to do the research and organising as there was no way they or my daughter could even think about it.

I have some understanding of what constant pain does to your brain, and I also wonder what the future holds. What will I be putting up with in 5 or 10 years???
Do you have a good pain specialist?
Best wishes
Peter