Wait for benefits takes a toll
Nebraska and Iowa residents are waiting longer and longer for a review of their denied Social Security disability claims.
Most appeals that come before a judge end with the applicant’s being awarded benefits, and most successful applicants receive some retroactive lump sum payout.
But it can take years before they see any money. In the interim, many struggle to keep their homes, maintain health insurance coverage and even cover basic living expenses, according to lawyers who handle the appeals.
The situation reflects a nationwide problem. Hearing offices that handle appeals of denied claims are understaffed. They haven’t kept pace with the rising demands of an aging baby boomer population.
Nationally, the number of pending appeals has more than doubled since 2000 to 750,000 and wait times have hit an all-time high of around 18 months.
The wait takes a toll on people like Dwayne Webb, 46, who lives near Pacific Junction, Iowa.
Webb hopes to receive a hearing in February or March on his claim for Social Security disability benefits. That would be about two years after he asked for a judge to review his denial of benefits.
It has been almost a year since Webb and his wife gave up the house they were renting in Glenwood, Iowa, because they could no longer afford the utility bills. The couple now live in a camper at a campground off Interstate 29.
“I’m very angry about it,” Webb said. “You work all the years I worked, since 16, and then you get hurt, and they tell you you’re going to have to wait two or three years before you get anything out of Social Security. I just don’t think it’s right.”
Webb’s disability stems from a back injury he suffered in a traffic accident in 2001.
He said his employer at the time, a waste management company, found him an office job and made other accommodations that allowed him to keep working. But after the company let him go during a round of layoffs in 2005, he applied for disability benefits.
Webb said his back injuries prevent him from sitting or standing long enough to perform another job. They also have prevented him from exercising, he said, which has led to weight gain, diabetes and other health problems. He’s on numerous medications.
Webb’s situation is far from unique. Nebraskans filed about 12,000 disability claims with the Social Security Administration in the 2007 fiscal year; western Iowa figures were not immediately available.
Generally, about two-thirds of those initial claims are denied. Of those who take the second step of asking for a paper review of their applications, about 90 percent are denied. Those first two rounds of the process can take several months, and many applicants simply drop out along the way.
But others, like Webb, file an appeal for a hearing before an administrative law judge. That’s where the real waiting begins.
The Omaha hearing office handles appeals that arise from field offices across Nebraska and western Iowa. In 2007, the field offices turned over 2,988 appeals to the Omaha office.
Omaha now has 4,796 pending cases a nearly four-fold increase from the 1,235 cases pending in 2001.
The National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives publishes a monthly ranking of processing times at hearing offices across the country.
Its November report shows that the average processing time at the Omaha hearing office has reached 639 days. That’s the time between when a person appeals a claim to a judge to the time that the case is resolved.
In fact, Omaha has now slipped down the rankings to 121st of the 143 hearing offices in the country, according to the report. The median processing time among the hearing offices is 467 days.
John Garlinger, a Social Security spokesman in Kansas City, Mo., said that he could not explain why Omaha has been falling behind other offices but that the agency was working to address the overall problem.
Garlinger said the agency faces the combination of too little funding and increased caseloads and responsibilities.
Attorneys who handle appeals talk about clients who have been forced to cash out retirement accounts, move in with relatives or make other sacrifices while waiting for resolution of their cases.
“It’s gut-wrenching,” said an Omaha attorney. “You know how much they’re suffering.”
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue testified earlier this year that the wait times were unacceptable. He said the agency had crafted a plan that involved improving hearing procedures, hiring additional staff and increasing efficiency through automation.
But attorneys in Nebraska are wary of some of the changes under consideration, such as putting time limits on when medical evidence can be introduced. They said clearing the backlog by rushing cases to faulty decisions is not a solution.
Congress this month approved an extra $150 million to reduce the backlog, but it’s unclear where that money will be spent and whether Omaha will get any additional help.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said he was assured by Social Security officials a year ago that they had plans for combating the backlog in the Omaha office. Instead, the situation has only gotten worse.
“It’s embarrassing for Social Security,” Terry said. “They evidently don’t want to find a solution to this.”