SSDI Wait Times Increase: What Can Beneficiaries Do?

Social Security serves as a lifeline for millions of Americans, and the sheer size of the program creates processing challenges, especially for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSDI wait times have increased significantly in recent years, making it difficult for many people who desperately need these benefits.

Reasons for long waiting times

In the late 2010s, it typically took 110 to 120 days for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to process SSDI claims. The current average wait time is approximately 228 days, or more than 7 months. Worse, about 10,000 Americans die each year while their SSDI claims are pending, according to federal data cited by AARP.

The main reason for these long wait times is the increasing number of disability claims. The overwhelming number of claims received each year is causing processing delays.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents about 750,000 federal and D.C. government employees, noted that while the number of Social Security recipients has increased about 25 percent over the past decade, SSA’s operating budget has declined over the same period. . Hiring has fallen by half in recent years, pushing SSA staffing levels to their lowest level in 25 years at the end of fiscal year 2022.

Additionally, budget constraints and staffing shortages are causing longer wait times, and SSA is aware of this and takes a lot of responsibility for it. AFGE recently proposed that Congress provide SSA with $20 million in additional funding to improve customer service performance.

SSA’s strict eligibility criteria and rigorous review process may result in long wait times. Due to strict eligibility criteria and rigorous review processes, the agency rejects many initial claims, resulting in applicants taking a long time to appeal.

Another factor contributing to long SSDI wait times is the complexity of the application process. Applicants must support their disability claims with extensive documentation and medical evidence, which is not only time consuming but also difficult to gather.

COVID-19 is another reason SSDI wait times are increasing. In addition to closures during the pandemic, the resulting hiring freeze, staff losses, and high attrition rates during the pandemic have reduced SSA’s operational efficiency.

In fact, in her 2022 testimony, SSA Deputy Director of Operations Grace Kim informed Congress that the agency urgently needs adequate funding to improve SSDI wait times and service degradation.

At the time, Mr. Kim said, “… “As we navigate the impact of the pandemic, we must have continued funding to continue to maintain public trust in our institutions, as well as our government,” he said.

Increased SSDI Wait Times: Impact on Beneficiaries

It’s no secret that many beneficiaries rely solely on SSDI benefits to cover living expenses such as housing, food, and medical care. Therefore, long waiting times can be extremely confusing for such people. It may worsen your health condition.

Additionally, applicants will not receive any financial assistance from SSA during the application process. Research shows that approximately 8,000 applicants file bankruptcy and approximately 10,000 people die each year while waiting for a decision on their SSDI claim.

What options do beneficiaries have?

Applicants don’t have much of a choice if their SSDI claim also involves a long waiting list. The best they can do is seek legal help. Engaging the services of an attorney or professional disability advocate can help applicants receive SSDI benefits more quickly.

Citing a 2022 study from the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), AARP noted that using legal help early in the SSDI claims process improves the likelihood of receiving an initial claim by 23%.

Legal assistance can also help claimants prepare their applications or claims in a format that is more likely to be approved. Another advantage is that applicants do not have to worry about the cost of legal assistance.

In such cases, legal professionals are not paid upfront. Rather, you only get paid if your claim is approved. In reality, legal costs arise out of backpay benefits (backpay) that the claimant would have received if SSA had approved the application earlier.

SSA limits the fee to 25% of the past due amount or $7,200, whichever is less. If there are no arrears, there is no fee even if the applicant receives benefits in the future.

How to solve the problem

It’s not that SSA is unaware of SSDI’s higher latency. Ultimately, the agency is trying to fix it or at least resolve the problem, but somehow, those efforts aren’t producing the results they expected.

Addressing the problem will require more resources, improved claims processing efficiency, and greater support for applicants, which will largely depend on adequate funding.

SSA received $14.2 billion for administrative costs through its 2024 spending agreement with Congress, up slightly from $14.1 billion in 2023. Biden’s 2025 fiscal roadmap proposes a 9% increase in the agency’s budget to $15.4 billion compared to fiscal 2023 funding.

SSA plans to invest more in the SSA workforce, including approximately $269 million in field offices, $89 million in hearing centers, and $85 million in processing centers. SSA also plans to focus on recruiting, training and retaining veterans, as well as partnerships with universities and institutions that serve underrepresented communities.

Overall, the agency’s goal is to begin processing more claims beyond year-end staffing levels in 2023. So while the picture may seem cloudy now, things will soon improve as funding improves.