A nationwide surge in Social Security disability claims has hit Michigan disproportionately hard.

The flood has caused a case logjam at the state’s five Social Security hearing offices, which have some of the longest wait times in the nation: nearly two years.

The delay in benefits approval, experts say, can mean a slow slide into poverty, with laid-off workers eating up their savings or even losing their homes. Older workers with health problems are increasingly turning to disability to stay afloat after losing their jobs because they are often less likely to find new employment, experts say. See story here:

While Social Security predicts a substantial reduction in waits for hearings by 2012, many claimants need a more immediate fix. This article discusses the reasons and some remedies for hearing delays:

“Many people are denied disability benefits at the first two levels (Application for benefits and Request for Reconsideration). The third step in the process is the Request for Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. At this stage, most claims have the greatest chance of being approved. The problem is that the greatest delays occur at this level.
The Administration has been confronted by a significant backlog on
cases pending decision and dispositions.
In FY 2007, SSA’s National Hearings Average Processing Time was 512
days for all dispositions. (see
www.ssa.gov for a thorough
discussions of the “whys and wherefores”…)

See entire article here.

Over the past year, the newspaper The Oregonian, Portland and Oregon’s local paper, has been running a series carefully documenting the devastating delays at the Social Security hearing offices, putting a human face on this non-comedy of errors and underfunding. Brent Walth and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian have just won the prestigious Bruce Baer Award for Investigative Reporting, for uncovering the enormous backlog of disability claims in the Social Security system. The articles showed that while claims management is a nationwide problem, Social Security Administration’s Portland office has one of the slowest case-completion rates in the country. The reporters found several cases in which claimants died while waiting for a benefits determination from the office: On average, it takes nearly two years for the Portland office to handle the appeal of a case.

Today’s San Jose Mercury writes that “the Social Security Disability Insurance system (SSDI) is crumbling under the pressure of a substantial disabled population, shrinking budgets and a wave of agency retirements. Social Security employees work as hard as they can to help people who deserve care, but their best efforts aren’t putting a dent in a hearing backlog of 765,000 disabled Americans — including 62,031 Californians — waiting months or years to receive their rightful benefits.

The recession is making things even worse. Commissioner Michael Astrue recently told the media the SSA is facing an unanticipated 10 percent increase in its disability claims caseload. That’s 250,000 additional cases the SSA needs to review, further bogging down the system.” See San Jose Mercury article here:

The New York Times joins the chorus of voices rising about layoffs by state governors. The governors need to slash budgets, but some of the jobs cut impact people on or applying for disability benefits:

“The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.

The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions. State officials have announced furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes to help balance budgets battered by the recession.

“The states’ response is completely illogical,” Mr. Astrue said. See his remarks and story here

Here are a few ways we have found that a claimant can sabotage his own disability claim.
1. Refuse to see doctors regularly or as scheduled. If there are no medical records, Social Security has no basis for a decision.
2. Not filing an appeal on time. Perhaps the claimant is depressed or otherwise mentally ill, or too ill from some other condition to follow through in an appropriate manner. Having an attorney who will take responsibility for these filings is an especially good idea if there are memory or mental illness issues involved.
3. If there is alcoholism or drug addiction in the picture, ignoring it and hoping a judge won’t notice. Chances are that it is repeatedly mentioned in your medical record. Get treatment, get clean and sober, then the issue is manageable. Otherwise: it can be a barrier to winning benefits in many cases.
4. Failing to mention all symptoms to your doctor. All symptoms, every time. Doctors, and judges, won’t assume what you think is too obvious to mention. Fatigued? Say so. In pain? Ask for some help.
5. Speaking of help, ask for some when you are filling out the endless and repetitive forms that Social Security sends to you. Don’t just say “I cook my own meals,” if what you mean is you can warm something up in the microwave. Don’t say “I watch TV” if you mean that you do it because you must lie down to manage pain. Can you follow a story on TV, can you concentrate and remember what you’ve seen? If not, this information needs to be included. You can do your own washing, but how long does it take you? You can go for a walk – do you need to rest afterward? If these things are fact, then the whole truth needs to be on these forms. Our office can help you with these and be sure you are not sabotaging your own case by leaving out details.