President Obama recently signed a bill giving the Social Security Administration a 10 percent increase in funding over that provided in fiscal year 2009, to be used to enhance the agency's infrastructure.
The increased funding allows Social Security to add new Administrative Law Judges, support state, hearing office managers and staff for the Appeals Council. In turn, this increase in staffing levels should lead to a speeding up of the Social Security application and appeals process.
That comes as welcome news across the country, but the news is probably not welcomed anywhere more enthusiastically than it is here in Ohio. Observers have long noted that our state's hearing offices are among the slowest of the 143 nationwide. After submitting an initial benefits application filing a request for reconsideration and requesting a hearing in Ohio, it can take longer than three years to receive a final decision.
To help accelerate the approval of applications for Social Security disability and other processes, two new hearing offices are opening here this year: one in Toledo and another in Akron. The agency is opening an additional 11 offices across the country.
The Social Security Administration recently stated it had made "tremendous progress toward reducing the disability backlog" in Ohio in 2009. They said the main reason they were able to do so was because of the increased funding support from Congress and the president. With additional increases in support, they hope to do an even better job of reducing the backlog and processing new applications and appeals.
A new streamlining of the application and appeals process includes, as of December 2009, online appeals of applications denied for medical reasons. If your application was denied for other reasons, you will still need to contact a Social Security office.
It's widely acknowledged that the difficult, detailed application and appeals process is often more successfully navigated with the assistance of a trained professional, such as a Social Security disability lawyer. If you have questions about the SSDI or SSI application or appeals process, contact a Social Security disability attorney to discuss your options.
