Social Security Disability Backlog at a Record High

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.

USA Today covered the Social Security backlog in a recent edition. For those of us in the business of helping disabled workers collect their Social Security benefits, the article really rang true. The statistics -- which will be shocking to most people -- didn't really contain any surprises for me, my fellow attorneys or the paralegals who handle these types of cases every day.

The USA Today report, however, does starkly illustrate the financial, physical and emotional stresses that disabled workers experience while waiting for Social Security benefits.

Consider the case of  26-year-old Jason Hoaks, who was a corrections officer in Wyoming when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2002. He suffered a stroke during surgery that resulted in vision problems, the loss of strength and sensation on his right side, memory loss and depression. Hoaks returned to work with limited duties until 2005, Both times, he appleid for Social Security Disability benefits and was denied, but finally won on appeal, 18 months later.

"Hoaks' experience with the Social Security disability system isn't unusual. Of 2.5 million people who file disability claims annually, nearly two in three get denied initially. If they pursue a federal hearing, they join about 745,000 others whose appeals are backlogged. As of June, their average wait for a decision was 529 days. The lengthy waits lead to bankruptcies and foreclosures, drinking and drugs, depression and divorce, even suicide, according to claimants, their representatives and employees of the Social Security Administration."

 You don't need an attorney to file for -- or win -- Social Security Disabilty benefits. But an attorney has experience with the system and can really help you navigate the red tape and Social Security bureaucracy . If you have been denied Social Security benefits, an attorney may be able to help you obtain Social Security Disability benefits.