|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
|
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 (
|
