The United State Government created the Social Security Disability Insurance Program 61 years ago with a worthy goal: to create a safety net to help injured workers pay bills and make ends meet if an illness or injury leaves them unable to work for a year or more.  Unfortunately, all the red tape and mismanagement has led to an ineffective program that has resulted in long waits that are crippling the most vulnerable citizens.  

In fiscal year 2012 the average nationwide wait time for a hearing decision was 353 days, now it is 605 days.  The average worker applying for disability benefits has paid into the program for 22 years, but 1.1 million Americans are waiting to get the benefits that they deserve and in the meantime are faced with devastating consequences.  Sadly thousands die waiting for their benefits to be processed.  Over 10,000 people died before getting a hearing scheduled in 2017.  Despite Congress providing the Social Security Administration $90 million to address the backlog, it is estimated that the backlog won’t return to reasonable levels until at least 2022.  

We at Disability Claim Consultants work hard to try to expedite cases for those most vulnerable, the homeless and terminally ill, but it isn’t always easy to get the judges to see things our way.  We will continue to fight for our clients and hope that permanent leadership of the Social Security Administration will take the program out of ruins and start it down a better, more efficient path for our disabled citizens.