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  • Broke
  • Last year the Social Security Administration sent $127.7 billion to those determined disabled but took in only $104 billion in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Deficits began draining the trust fund in 2005 and are expected to be exhausted by 2017

  • Account Overdrawn
  • Just as when individuals spend beyond their means to repay, so too, do states and nations. "Washington's public debt is nearly $8.5 trillion, which comes to about 58% of the U.S. economy, compared with ratios exceeding 100% in places like Greece.

  • The End of Healthcare
  • Make no mistake about it: socialized medicine is medical treatment at the point of a gun. Under a single payer government plan, medical decisions will be taken out of doctors' hands and relinquished to the arbitrary whims of government.

  • Vet Falsely Accused
  • An atmosphere of suspicion and distrust was created even before Bill arrived at the meeting with Social Security's consulting psychiatrist, Dr. F. Bill called him from the road to tell him he was on Key Bridge and would be a few minutes late.

  • Our Deceptive SSA
  • An audit of the Social Security Administration by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) two years ago uncovered some very disturbing and damning facts. Among them are: Hundreds of pieces of unopened mail;

  • The Good, Bad, & Ugly
  • Over many years I have seen a lot of representatives ask questions about the numbers of jobs vocational experts (VEs) testify to under a set of limitations the ALJ accepts. However, the latest dialogue among representatives has confirmed for me

  • Do The Math
  • For the purpose of constructing a model which excludes the fact that the number of workers (who pay the bill) is less than the number of retirees (who collect via SSA from the workers), consider the following: Start with an eighteen-year old

  • Backlog Crisis
  • The latest processing times for Social Security disability cases have hit new all-time highs. The average lengths of time up to May of 2008 for Social Security disability claimants to get a hearing after a hearing is requested, has been received from the Social Security Administration through

    • Safety Net Knot
  • CHEWELAH, WA. David Michaelis felt the symptoms of a rare neuromuscular disease in October of '02.The condition causes involuntary movements of the head and neck, which destroys the ability to coordinate eye-hand movements.

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The Backlog Worsens

8/7/2005 | Author Admin | Edit

The latest processing times for Social Security disability cases have hit new all-time highs. The average lengths of time up to May of 2008 for Social Security disability claimants to get a hearing after a hearing is requested, has been received from the Social Security Administration through

the Freedom of Information Act. The average length of processing times for 141 hearing offices is 16.8 months. Long delays in processing cases is the number one complaint leveled by patient-claimants against the Social Security Administration. Despite former commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart's pledge to speed up processing times with the use of electronic technology, they have in fact lengthened to an all-time high. However, the conversion is not completed, and is still in process.

In 2008, only one of the 141 hearing offices met the Administration's goal of 250 days (8.3 months) from the time one asks for a hearing to the time one gets a hearing-Stockton, CA.

Offices taking between 10 and 11 months are Hartford, Providence, Charleston, WV, and Dover.

Processing times between 11 and 12 months were achieved by Boston, Huntington, Richmond, VA, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles Downtown and West, and Orange.

Those hearing offices achieving average processing times between 12 and 13 months are New Haven, CT, Portland, ME, Queens, San Juan, Johnstown, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Kingsport, TN, Billings, Pasadena, San Bernadino, San Francisco, San Rafael, Santa Barbara, and Tucson.

The slowest processing time was 2 years, 4 months, for Columbus, OH. Other worst offenders are Oak Brook (29 months), Lansing (27.3 months), Greenville, NC (27 months), Indianapolis (26 months), Cleveland (25 months), Dayton (25 months), Flint (24.6 months), Peoria (24.2 months), Oak Park (24 months), Evansville (24 months), and Madison (23.4 months).

The Social Security Administration has set a goal of eliminating all pending hearing requests that are 900 days old or more. Last year, the Administration set a goal of eliminating all cases that were 1,000 days old or older, which was successful. At the beginning of fiscal year 2008, which began in October of 2007, there were 134,000claims that were 900 days old or older. By the end of May, the number had been whittled down to 28,000. As of now, no goal has been set for 2009.

Additionally, SSA's Office of Quality Assurance is identifying cases which should have been allowed before being appealed to the hearing level. 8,700 of these cases were found in FY 2007. The office is hoping to find 17,000 of these types of cases this year. States being targeted are those with the greatest number of paper (non-electronic) cases, which include New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and Ohio.

SSA has also ushered in 135 Administrative Law Judges and plans to hire 50 more. Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced a bill in July which would require SSA to issue a hearing decision within 90 days after asking for a hearing. Her district includes Tampa, FL, which has one of the longest processing times with 21.6 months. The "Timely Due Process for the Disabled Act of 2008," H.R. 5485, would require that the claimant would receive notice of a hearing within 5 business days after the request for a hearing is filed, that the hearing would be held within 75 days after the request for a hearing is filed, and that the ALJ would issue a decision within 15 business days after the hearing.

In the meantime, while SSA is paring down the backlog, there are 4 conditions which should put a case closer to the front of the line. They are::

1) The patient is terminally ill;

2) The patient is without, or is unable to obtain food, medicine, or shelter, or;

3) There is an indication that the patient is homicidal or suicidal;

4) The case has been delayed an inordinate amount of time, longer than the average processing time.

The patient-claimant should address his or her circumstances to the Chief Administrative Law Judge via certified mail. After sending, a follow-up call should be made to find out whether the change of status has been made. If not, you should mention your mailing date and the date of receipt, as well as the your reasons for requesting the change in status.

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