The Social Security Administration (SSA) is one of the slowest organizations on earth! It can take 12 to 36 months to get a simple disability claim processed.
But why is the SSA so pathologically slow? Here are some of the reasons.
1. It was designed to be slow. Its founders didn't want a process where benefits could be awarded easily or too precariously. It was meant to crawl, not run. It's a tortoise, not a cheetah!
2. It is under funded. Congress doesn't appropriate enough money to provide for Social Security's staffing and support. Fewer workers are expected to do more and more work.
3. There doesn't seem to be much accountability or supervision. While most SSA staffers work hard, there are definite problems with accountability. It's easy for a case to fall through the cracks.
4. There's a lack of leadership at the top of the SSA. There is no permanent Commissioner of Social Security. President Biden appointed Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi as "acting commissioner," but has failed to name permanent Commissioner. The offices of Deputy Commissioner and Office of Executive Operations have also been vacant for quite some time.
5. Nearly 1 million new claims each year bogs down the system. It takes a long time to investigate and process that many claims.
6. The COVID Panic. The COVID-19 "pandemic," as it's called, virtually closed Social Security for about two years. (It did keep issuing benefit checks). Even in 2023, when most people and institutions have moved on, Social Security still seems paralyzed by some real or imagined phobia about COVID. The fallacious idea that "working from home" can take the place of reporting to work at the office still lingers. We know that "working from home" is only about 50 percent as efficient (at best) as working in the structured office; however, Social Security used COVID to ignore that fact and we all suffer.
Can You Do Anything?
Not much. Like most of the US government, the Social Security Administration simply is too insulated and isolated to offer much response to calls for change. It's a dinosaur with a fire under its tail.
The only real power to change Social Security lies with the Congress and they seem fearful of touching the SSA. And with good cause. Members of the House and Senate who have tried to change Social Security have been voted out of office more than once.
The Executive Branch (President Biden) could use executive orders and the power of appointment to redirect the SSA, but as we've noted, it has not even filled vacancies at the executive level of the administration. "Out of sight, out of mind," seems to be the attitude in Washington. "Don't ask, don't tell."
The best you can do probably is to find someone who understands the Social Security disability system with all its challenges and elicit their help. It certainly won't solve all the problems, and it will not speed up the SSA. But at least it may keep you from reinventing the wheel as you muddle your way through the long, frustratingly slow process.
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Charles W. Forsythe is the founder of The Forsythe Firm, and a counselor who works to help individuals get their disability benefits.
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