Disability Law

Social Security Delays of Disability Claims Violate Due Process Rights

Today’s The American Civil Liberties Union newsletter commends the House Ways and Means Committee for holding a hearing today on the backlog of Social Security disability claims. The ACLU has submitted a written statement to the committee.

Social Security disability backlogs are at an all-time high, with the average wait time lasting 499 days and in some regions upwards of 700 days. At the same time, the Social Security Administration (SSA) staffing levels are at their lowest levels since 1972. All this translates into unreasonable delays in Social Security disability claims processing, with thousands of people with disabilities facing tremendous economic hardship including bankruptcy, homelessness, and in some cases suicide.

At a time when Congress should be focused on clearing up the Social Security disability backlogs, Some members of the House of Representatives are pushing a vast increase in the workload of the already overburdened SSA ? mandatory verification of every worker in the U.S. More details here:

Full post as published by Social Security Disability Law Blog on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).