Disability claims are down, for both insured and SSI claims. They are down to the smallest number since at least 2006, with a 13% drop in SSI claims over one year. But despite fewer claims going to the state agencies that review claims, there are longer processing times and growing backlogs. On average people are waiting six to eight weeks longer just for the initial-level decisions. And some have to wait much, much longer. Reconsideration delays are similarly growing. In short, Social Security is taking too long. We can’t even call adjudicators and rely on getting someone to talk to. The phone system appears to depend on callers getting fed up with the wait and hanging up. If that doesn’t work, the telephone system will just hang up on persistent callers.
The real problem is a lack of funding for sufficient staff to handle the calls Social Security gets. They have no choice but to deprive us of telephone service, at least until Congress properly funds them. Even though the number of new claims filed has gone down significantly since the Social Security offices closed their doors, cases are so piled up at the initial and appeal levels that many cases get sidetracked for months. Some even seem to get lost. Social Security adjudicators almost certainly get tired of lawyers repeatedly contacting them about cases, but if you’re one of those lawyers, it’s impossible to tell a case that’s just backlogged from one that’s just disappeared from the process.
Until more funding appears and more staff are hired, the lack of ability to deal with Americans who need Social Security will just keep growing.