McArthur Allen

Judge McArthur Allen was appointed Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals on November 8, 2020. In this capacity, he oversees the third level of review for Medicare appeals within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has responsibility for the second largest Federal Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) corps in the United States. Judge Allen brings with him a wealth of legal and leadership experiences, spanning more than two decades.

Judge Allen graduated from Southern Illinois University's School of Law in Carbondale, Illinois and his legal career began in the insurance defense industry. He then entered private practice in Southern Illinois, where his advocacy centered on criminal law, civil rights, and personal injury litigation. In 2008, he left private practice to join the Department of Defense Global War on Terrorism section as a Deputy Associate General Counsel at the Pentagon. In that position, Judge Allen led and trained a large cadre of attorneys and staff, while exercising control over a large caseload of pending Habeas Corpus litigation matters and advising senior executives and subordinates on procedural and substantive issues involving federal court and compliance litigation.

Since his appointment as a Federal Administrative Law Judge, Judge Allen has held several leadership positions with progressively increasing levels of responsibility within the federal government. Judge Allen began his federal career as an Administrative Law Judge in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Disability, Adjudication and Review in September 2010. In January 2012, he was appointed as the Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he continued to serve until his appointment as Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge in SSA's Atlanta North Hearing Office in January 2014. Additionally, he served as the Vice President of the Association for Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judges.

In January 2015, Judge Allen was competitively selected to enter the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program as one of only two Administrative Law Judges. In that capacity, he served as Deputy Associate Commissioner for the Office of Public Service and Operations Support; Deputy Associate Commissioner for Disability Policy; and, Deputy Regional Commissioner. Judge Allen was instrumental in establishing Anti-Fraud Cooperative Disability Investigatory units and ensuring their ability to quickly deploy anti-fraud teams nationwide. Additionally, his dedication to public service initiatives ensured prompt customer service to remote regions and processes for more efficient workflow, which significantly increased organizational customer satisfaction.

In January 2017, Judge Allen began serving as an Assistant Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge for SSA's Atlanta Region. In that role, he served as the alter ego for the Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge in administering the nation's social security insurance programs for 64.5 million residents of Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. During his tenure, the Atlanta region reached new and heightened levels of productivity and realized significant improvements in driving down the region's daunting backlog. Judge Allen also served as the cadre lead for the Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge Supplemental Training, providing guidance, tools, and materials to assist supervisory judges to implement consistent and policy-compliant management of hearing offices.

In October 2018, Judge Allen began his career with the HHS Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals as an Associate Chief Judge in the Atlanta Field Office. He was instrumental in successfully standing up the new Atlanta office and creating a fully functional judicial cadre.

Judge Allen is a member of the Illinois State Bar and is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.