The Social Security Disability Backlog Grows

If you noticed that it is taking a long time to have your Social Security Disability claim heard by an Administrative Law Judge, you are not alone. It seems that there are one million cases waiting to be heard currently by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).  The Washington Post noted that this backlog is so long that it exceeds the population of 6 different states.

The average time to get a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge is at 450 days, though www.disabilityjudges.com estimated that the national average is closer to 461 days. Keep in mind that these time frames relate only to the hearing level stages at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. These estimates do not take into account the waiting periods at the initial application or reconsideration levels, which are the first two stages of the Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income claims process. It can take the Social Security Administration anywhere from 4 to 9 months to make a decision at each one of these two initial stages. Thus, it can take anywhere from close to 2 to 3 years from your initial filing date until you appear before an Administrative Law Judge currently.

The four main reasons for this dramatic backlog include an increase in the number of hearing requests, fewer overall judges, less-productive judges, and less attorneys and personnel to assist at the hearing offices.

The Social Security Administration replaced the two officials in charge of the hearing offices with new leadership. This changing-of-the guard is in the process of developing new ways to decrease the backlog. Hiring new judges, training attorneys and claim examiners employed by the hearing offices to screen the cases for possible early decisions, scheduling more video hearings, and eliminating duplicate evidence from the file to streamline the process, are all part of the plan.

Backlogs at SSA will always exist, but SSA is hoping to decrease the hearing waiting times to 270 days by 2020. For more information on the backlog, please see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/10/19/the-biggest-government-backlog-is-getting-worse-watchdog-says-but-social-security-has-a-plan/.

Got a question about SSDI or SSI that you need us to answer? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with helpful information on our website that will allow you to successfully navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to email me your questions at megan@westcoastdisability.com or call me at (800) 459-3017 x 103.