State Disability Backlog Rankings Released

More than 1.4 million Americans currently are wrestling with the federal Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and its growing backlog. New rankings were released Wednesday, August 1, listing the states with the worst log jams.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Washington DC, the country's largest cross-disability membership organization, and Allsup Inc., the nation's leading Social Security disability representation company, released the state rankings detailing the struggles with the SSDI application, reconsideration, and appeals processes, which take at least two years to complete for most people.

Those receiving the worst disability backlog rankings are Kansas, District of Columbia, North Dakota, Michigan, and Alabama. Virginia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Hawaii earned the best disability rankings. Separate backlog figures were not available for Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

The disability appeals process is in crisis, as 730,000 disabled Americans are currently facing delays at the hearing level alone, causing extensive delays in obtaining their rightful benefits, said Andrew J. Imparato, AAPD's president and CEO. The AAPD suggested that Congress and the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) must work together to deploy additional resources to address this growing problem that affects the financial well-being of citizens with disabilities and their families.

According to the SSA, the average processing time at the hearing level for disability cases has increased from 308 days in 2001 to 524 days in 2007. A key reason for this growth is the shrinking SSA field staff, largely due to retirement. The SSA was 30 percent smaller in 2002 than 20 years before. From August 2005 to January 2007, about 2,000 field office employees left SSA without being replaced. Meanwhile, since 1990, the number of disabled workers drawing SSDI benefits has more than doubled, from 3 million to 6.8 million, as the aging baby boom generation begins to put far greater demands on the agency's resources.

The disability backlog challenge is so immense that it will take an all-hands-on-deck approach to resolve, said Jim Allsup, president and CEO of Allsup Inc.

The rankings were created by comparing the number of backlogged disability applications to the number of disabled beneficiaries in each state. Both figures are from the end of 2006.

Congress created the payroll tax-funded SSDI program in 1956 to protect Americans who became disabled and could no longer work. Individuals who become disabled qualify for benefits if they have worked and paid into the program for at least five of the last ten years.

For the complete list of rankings, visit www.allsup.com

State Disability Backlog Rankings Released

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State Disability Backlog Rankings Released

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