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Social Security Backlog Means Waits for Disability

AARP

August 10, 2007

The number of people seeking help from the Social Security Administration (SSA) because they are too disabled to work has created a record backlog of appeals that is rapidly continuing to grow as the Social Security program approaches its 62nd Anniversary on Tuesday, August 14. According to an article last week in USA Today, more than 745,000 applicants are waiting an average 17 months for their disability case to be heard, both record numbers.

The SSA says this backlog has doubled in only the last six years, and estimates it could reach 1 million cases by 2010. An increasing overall population and the aging of baby boomers have contributed to the buildup, as older workers are more likely to become injured or sick on the job. At the same time, the agency is at its lowest staff level in over 30 years, having lost more than 2,300 workers since 2005.

To receive disability, a state agency of the SSA must first review the claim in a process taking an average of three to four months. Approximately 65 percent of the 2.5 million people filing disability claims each year are denied at first, until appeals are heard by federal administrative law judges. 62 percent of appeals are ultimately approved, but average waits for hearings range from an additional nine months (Harrisburg, PA) to 31 months (Atlanta, GA). “This is a completely unacceptable way to treat workers who have given so much to their jobs they are physically unable to continue,” said Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. Currently, 15.3 million people are collecting disability benefits, an increase of 24% over the past five years.


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