WAIT TIMES FOR ALABAMA SSDI

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Wait times for Social Security disability are awful.

Claimants applying for Social Security disability in 2023 will wait longer than at any time in the last 14 years, according to the Social Security Administration. The national averaging processing time for a disability application is 223 days, or over months. Many claimants wait a year or more for an initial decision. In Alabama there is a very heavy backlog of applications representing an increase of 105 percent in the backlog since 2019 (just over double).

After waiting 7 to 12 months for an initial decision, 3 out of 5 applications will be denied. An additional wait of 1 to 2 years may be necessary for the appeals process to play out.

After the appeal process is finished, there is a 48 percent chance of being awarded benefits, usually after a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

In 2022, 8,000 persons filed bankruptcy while waiting to get SSDI benefits and about 10,000 claimants died before getting a decision on their SSDI benefits.

The allowance or approval rates in Alabama for 2022 at each stage were as follows:

Initial Application 34 percent

“Reconsideration” 16 percent

Hearing 57 percent*

*Most of these claimants were represented by lawyers or advocates.

Alabama ranks 43/50 for the most difficult states to get disability benefits. Approval rates in Alabama have decreased about 3 percent in the past 12 months.

Social Security has released a statement saying that the long wait times are “unacceptable.” However, they do not say how they hope to solve or improve the problem.

The excessive wait times really began in March, 2022 when Social Security offices closed due to the COVID “pandemic.” Social Security has not been able to regain their momentum or to reduce the backlog. One of the problems is that the agency lost a large percentage of its workforce during COVID and has not been able to replace/train new workers.

The long wait time is expected to worsen during 2023.