A recent Associated Press article reported that the average wait for a Social Security disability hearing with an administrative law judge is 602 days. Sadly, last year alone, 7,000 cases pending a hearing were for people who had died while waiting.
This wait has nearly doubled in the last five years. The Social Security Administration’s budget to administer the retirement and disability programs has not kept pace with growth in the programs, primarily due to more people reaching retirement age. Since 2011, six million more people retired or became disabled, but the Social Security budget has remained about the same.
If you have recently filed or are considering filing a claim for disability benefits, you may be able to avoid the long wait for a hearing by consulting with an experienced disability attorney. An experienced attorney can help you navigate the initial application and avoid the errors that sometimes lead to unnecessary denials. An experienced attorney can also help with developing or obtaining medical or vocational information that will persuade Social Security that you are disabled under its strict definition.
An experienced attorney can give your application its best chance at success at an early stage and avoid the long wait time for an administrative law judge hearing. However, even with the best of help, not all applications succeed at the early stages and a request for hearing must be filed. At this point, there is usually little or nothing that can be done to shorten the almost two-year average wait time.
But you can help to correct this. Congress is responsible for Social Security’s funding. If you are concerned regarding these delays, contact your local Congressperson. Expressing concern creates political pressure to act, and without this pressure, it is unlikely that there will be increases in Social Security’s budgetary funding anytime soon.
Learn more about Roose & Ressler and the Social Security disability backlog.
