A month ago, we reported that the economy and elevated unemployment rates around the country were add to the Social Security Disability backlog and lengthening the amount of time that disabled people must wait for their benefits.

The trend continues, according to the Las Vegas Sun:

Since October, the number of people waiting to have a claim processed has jumped more than 30 percent, from about 556,000 to 736,000 last month. Although most of those initial claims will be denied, many will end up before an administrative law judge on appeal. Nearly 750,000 people are waiting for a hearing before overwhelmed judges.

Now  according to the newspaper, there's evidence that some overloaded administrative law judges, who hear Social Security Disability cases on appeal, are being forced to take shortcuts to meet quotas.

The Social Security Administration requires that administrative law judges hear 500 to 700 cases a year, which many judges are saying is an unrealistic caseload. The growing backlog is making the burden even harder to bear.

Ultimately, disabled workers are suffer and will continue to suffer until the system is overhauled.

“No one ever says, ‘do a sloppy job,’ ” said Marilyn Zahm, executive vice president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges. “But to pretend you can keep pumping out decision after decision and spend the requisite amount of time on each case is foolish. That’s shortchanging people, and the system will lack integrity if you do not require everyone to do a good job.”

“Corners are being cut in order to accommodate a backlog and at the end of the day everyone is going to suffer,” she said. “People have a right to expect due process ... At a certain point, no more corners can be cut.”

The fear, she said, is that legitimate claims may be rejected or fraudulent claims accepted in the rush to do business.

Indeed, the pressure and disciplinary threats have caused some judges to take shortcuts, Zahm said.

“Hearings are being shortened, not all information in the file is being reviewed, not all medical reports are being obtained, and full and legally defensible decisions may not be rendered, either because due consideration hasn’t been given or the decision is poorly written,” she said. “When people have too much work to do in the amount of time allotted to do it, you get sloppy work.”

The Social Security Disability can't continue to function this way. If the system isn't overhauled -- if more administrative law judges aren't hired and trained -- to hear cases, more legitimate claims will be denied. And disabled people will have to go through multiple layers of appeals before receiving the benefits to which they're entitled.