A news report from the Cleveland Plain Dealer in its June 17, 2006 edition suggests that delays in Social Security claim adjudication will continue to worsen. According to the article, Congress is proposing a cut of $200 million from SSA’s budget. Social Security Administration Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart testified to a Congressional Committee that SSA needs to hire 100 judges to staff hearings offices throughout the country, but it will be unable to do so. Also possible are week long unpaid furloughs for SSA employees.

Cleveland has the distinction of having the nation’s fourth worst hearing office backlog of over 11,000 cases – with claimants facing close to a 20 month wait for a hearing after the request for hearing is filed.

Cleveland’s problem with delays is echoed in Atlanta (where I practice) and in hearing offices throughout the country. I am seeing more and more claimants losing their homes to foreclosure and their cars to repossession. My colleague Bernie Shapiro, who practices in Massacussetts and New York, reports that SSA’s transition to electronic hearing processing has caused delays in the processing of payments to both attorney and to claimants. I am also noticing that my fee payments (when they do arrive) are usually for the maximum $5,300 – meaning that the size of past due benefit payments to claimants is rising because we are all waiting longer for cases to be heard.

It looks like the delays will be getting worse before they get better.

[tags] Social Security delays, OHA, past due benefits, Cleveland office of hearings and appeals, hearing office backlog [/tags]