Yet another sad story of how the Social Security disability backlog impacts lives.

47-year-old Heather Russell was diagnosed a year ago with Stage IV cancer and applied for Social Security disability benefits. She was initially denied benefits, and so kept working at her job at Home Depot despite the toll the end-stage cancer was taking on her.

Russell died before receiving Social Security Disability benefits. And it wasn't until a few weeks before her death that her family learned that her claim likely could have been expedited because of her terminal condition.

It wasn't until recently, with the help of staff from Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter's Dover office, that the Russells learned Social Security provides "compassionate allowances," according to the agency, in order to "quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information that we can obtain quickly."

But Heather Russell received no compassionate allowance. And she died while her Social Security Disability claim was mired in red tape.

Russell's family says that her final months could have been so much easier had her disability benefits been approved. She wouldn't have had to continue to work and to worry about how to pay her rent and other bills.

Heather Russell's story is a sad reminder of why the Social Security Disability system is sorely in need of reform.

New Jersey has The Boss, The Sopranos and Snooki -- and apparently one of the lengthiest backlogs for Social Security Disability claims.

According to a report at NJ.com, a new survey from Allsup reveals:

The average New Jerseyan will wait as long as 16 months before a hearing to determine whether they are eligible for benefits. Although that’s an improvement from more than 17 months in September 2008, it’s still the 13th longest wait in the country. Reviewing the first two applications in New Jersey takes an average of six months, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. That makes the full wait for New Jersey residents as long as 22 months before the entire process is completed.

As we've written here before, the Social Security disability backlog is a real hardship for disabled workers. Most initial claims are denied, and it's the norm that people will wait a year, if not two, for a hearing and receipt of benefits. In that time, the bills pile up and their financial situations worsen.

The Social Security Administration is attempting to cut the backlog by hiring more administrative law judges, but the problem is far from fixed.

Nationally, the average wait time for a hearing and decision on SSDI benefits is 442 days, down from 514 days in September 2008.

As bad as things are in New Jersey, they're worse in other states.

Allsup's analysis found that the Social Security Disability backlog was longest in Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, the District of Columbia and Alabama.

An individual with a disability who lives in Delaware will wait on average fewer than 10 months for a hearing, while the same applicant in Ohio would wait almost 20. The 10 states with the lowest wait times are Delaware, Maine, Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Utah, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Hawaii.

A new study from Allsup shows that as the country's economic recession continues and more people find themselves unemployed for extended periods, Social Security Disability claims are up. But the length of time disabled people must wait for their benefits has increased.

Among the findings of the Allsup Disability Study: Income at Risk:

• For the second quarter of 2009, people with disabilities experienced an unemployment rate 53 percent higher than people without disabilities, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
• In June,  three in 10 of the unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic.
• Disability applications rose to more than 727,000 in the second quarter of 2009, up 7 percent from the first quarter. Year to date there has been a 22-percent jump in initial disability applications compared to the same period in 2008.

An increase in the number of applications for Social Security Disability benefits impacts the Social Security Administration's ability to process those claims, delaying the assignment of benefits. Most claimants wait an average of 2 1/2 years for their Social Security benefits, but for some the backlog can stretch the wait to four years.

That's why it's so important to apply for benefits as soon as you become disabled. It's customary to be denied benefits initially, and it's often that point that  people seek a qualified and experienced Social Security Disability attorney to help with their claim.

Mike Ervin, a disability rights activist with ADAPT, has written a compelling editorial about the Social Security Disability Backlog, which is forcing most disabled workers to wait for years for benefits.

"We must stop the inexcusable delay in getting Social Security benefits to people with disabilities.

Hundreds of thousands of people who have filed legitimate disability claims with the Social Security Administration have been forced to wait, on average, an astonishing 520 days for a hearing on their claims. Many have waited as long as three years, losing their homes in the process."

Amen. Read on for Ervin's thought-provoking article about the Social Security backlog.

There's a misconception among many workers that winning Social Security Disability benefits is easy and quick.

The contrary is actually true.

Even if you're entitled to benefits, your claim is likely to be denied initially. And most people wait 18 months or longer before they begin collecting benefits, a backlog that can cause extreme financial stress.

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