The number of claimants in the backlog waiting to receive their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits is highest in California, New York, and Florida.
Rounding out the top 10 states with the most residents stuck in the SSDI hearing backlog are Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama, according to a ranking based on the latest data provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA) through December 30, 2016, updated by Allsup.
The SSA reports that the number of SSDI claimants waiting for a hearing now exceeds 1.1 million people with severe disabilities, notes Allsup in a media release.
“It’s not surprising that states with higher populations have the most claimants in the disability hearing backlog,” says Mike Stein, assistant vice president of claims, Allsup, in the release. “What may surprise people is that the wait times can be just as long in states with tens of thousands of claimants as just a few thousand claimants.”
The SSA now has 58 hearing offices with waits over 600 days, which is a 57% increase from 37 offices in September. In comparison, only three hearing offices had waits over 600 days at fiscal year-end 2015. There are 168 offices reporting wait times. Social Security recently received funding from Congress to help address the hearing backlog, the release notes.
To view the state-by-state ranking, visit Allsup.
[Source(s): Allsup, PR Newswire]
