September 22, 2008

• Hearing Delays Statistics Updated

  Social Security has released its latest reports documenting delays in hearing offices throughout the country.  The report, from the Office of the Inspector General, does not contain a comparison to last year's report but it does appear to me that there has been a slight improvement in reducing delays.  In Atlanta, where I practice there has been a slight improvement from over 900 days delay to 713 day (downtown Atlanta) and 872 days (Atlanta North). (…)

March 4, 2008

• Last Minute Lawyer Substitution - Is This a Problem?

  This is completly frustrating! I wrote a dire need letter to my congressman and got an expidited hearing scheduled for March 5, 2008. (…)

February 26, 2008

• Finally, Some Good News About the Hearing Office Backlogs

  Finally - some good news about the SSA Disability hearing backlog.  In a February 26, 2008 press release, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue announced that SSA had tendered job offers to 144 of the 175 new Administrative Law Judges that it plans to hire during fiscal year 2008.  The press release notes that the agency has 10% fewer judges that it did ten years ago, while the caseload has doubled. (…)

January 27, 2008

• A Disturbing Explanation for Why Hearing Schedules are So Far Behind

  If you have read various posts on this and other Social Security disability blogs, you will note that there has been a lot of discussion about the delays that plague the system.  In the Atlanta hearing offices, for example, hearings are now just being scheduled for applications that extend back two or three years. (…)

January 15, 2008

• CBS News Reports on Social Security Disability Claim Delays

  CBS News is conducting an on-going investigation into the chaotic Social Security disability system and the outrageous delays that have become commonplace.  The report includes interviews with claimants who are clearly deserving, but who have suffered extreme financial and personal hardship because of extensive delays. (…)

September 11, 2007

• Immigration Dispute May Result in Increased Disability Delays

  The New York Times reports that a court battle over a Social Security Administration policy designed to punish employers who hire illegal aliens may have the unintended result of increasing delays in the Social Security Disability decision making process. (…)

August 10, 2007

• How Long Do I Have To Wait for My Hearing Decision?

  Dear Jonathan,
  Hello. I have a question concerning my court hearing please.   On May 17th, 2007, I went to my disability hearing. (…)

August 9, 2007

• Is Settlement Advance Funding Available to Social Security Disaiblity Claimants?

  With delays in Social Security disability cases reaching three years, it was inevitable that settlement advance funding would be adapted to include Social Security disability cases.  Yesterday, a company called AnyLawSuits.com purchased a site review from me through Reviewme.com, which is a marketplace that allows website owners to purchase blog reviews.  I thought that AnyLawSuits.com's concept is interesting because they say that any advance issued to a claimant would not have to be repaid if the claimant lost his disability case. (…)

July 30, 2007

• Social Security Hearing Delays in the News Again

  The staffing and case backlog crisis at the Social Security Administration was the subject of a front page article in USA Today on Monday, July 30, 2007.  The article noted that SSA has over 745,000 cases pending with the average wait for a hearing at 17 months.  In Atlanta, Georgia, where I practice, the wait time exceeds 30 months (2 1/2 years) - and this is consistent with what I am seeing in my practice. (…)

January 31, 2007

• I've Been Waiting Two Years for a Hearing - Is this "Normal?"

  jonathan, i have had fibro., chronic severe depression for years withrecent dx. of recent dx of some short term memory loss. (…)

March 16, 2006

• It has been 8 months and I have not heard anything

  I applyed in the end of July of 2005 and completed everything that they wanted and now it has been almost 8 months and still nothing I tried calling and she isn’t calling me back and haven’t recieved anything in the mail. (…)

March 14, 2006

• Applied 6 months ago - still waiting…

  I applied for SSD pension almost 6 month ago and have still no answer. Howe long can SSA try to starve you out. I`m also from Germany and ask myself what`s going on. (…)