Social Security Disability Experiencing Backlog
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The national average processing time for the month of March 2009 was 501 days, which is two days above January and February 2009. The cumulative average processing time for the first six months of fiscal year (FY) 2009 was 490 days, a lower number attributable to an average processing time of 479 dyas for October to December 2008, the first quarter of FY 2009. It appears that the processing time is creeping up after some months of improvement.
A growing problem appears to be getting case decisions by the Administrative Law Judges. The average time waiting for a decision to be written has increased. What do the numbers from the backlogs tell us?
- Average processing times are staying around 500 days.
- The number of pending hearings has dropped three months in a row.
- The number of hearings requested has increased about 10% this fiscal year.
- Dispositions are clearly up from last year.
- The number of decisions waiting to be written continues to climb. The number of decisions to be written per decision writer is also climbing.
- The number of cases pending to be pulled is dropping, with the number of days a case is waiting to be pulled at the lowest level in nearly five years.
The backlog continues to frustrate claimants and attorneys alike. Those applying for disability benefits often have little means to subsist while their claim is pending.
Information provided by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives also known as NOSSCR.