North Carolina Workers' Compensation Law Blog

Recently numerous news publications such as Charlotte New Observer and Los Angeles Times, have been writing about cases backlogged in Social Security.  This is a decade old problem that just seems to keep getting worse. 

It is interesting to note that in July of 1996 a report was made at the request of the Ranking Minority Member in the Committee on Ways and Means "about the growth in the backlog of pending cases at SSA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, agency initiatives to reduce it, and concerns associated with SSA’s efforts."

"The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates the nation’s largest programs providing cash benefits to people with severe long-term disabilities. In 1995, about 5.7 million disabled workers and their dependents received Disability Insurance (DI) benefits, up from 3.9 million at the end of 1985. During this same period, the number of disabled recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) increased from 2.5 million to 4.9 million. Over the past decade, SSA has struggled to deal with unprecedented growth in appeals of its disability decisions and the resulting backlog of cases awaiting a hearing decision. Processing delays related to a backlog of more than half a million appealed cases have created hardships for disability claimants, who often wait more than a year
for a final disability decision."

It is now 2007 and our law firm continues to see an average duration of 12 to 14 months before we even have a hearing date set. 

Since it takes a year to even get a hearing date,  SSD applicants should apply anway, even if you don't know whether you will be out of work for 12 consecutive months.  Better safe than sorry because here is the additional issue people don't realize: your payment of Social Security benefits will only go back one year (12 months) prior to your application. So if you wait more than a year from the date you last worked to apply for your SSD benefits, you are losing benefits.

For example, you stop working on Jan 1, 2004 and you decide to wait and see how your injury develops.  Two years pass and you are still out of work, so you decide to apply (Jan. 1, 2006).  You apply, and it takes one year before the Social Security grants a hearing date.  The hearing date is set 6 months away.  You go to the hearing and the decision by the judge goes in your favor.  It is now 3 years and 7 months since you last worked.  Even though your decision may say you became disabled as of January 1, 2004, the Social Security Administration will only pay benefits from a year before you applied. Since you applied on January 1, 2006, that means your benefits will only go from January 1, 2005 forward. Bottom line in this scenario is that you lost out on a year of your benefits.  So the rule that applicants should always follow is to file within the first 12 months of coming out of work.

(If you return to work prior to a consecutive 12 months out of work, you can always withdraw or close your application. )

Furthermore, if you end up returning to work after having been out of work for over 12 months, you are still eligible to receive benefits for those 12+ month period where you were disabled, this is what is referred to as a "closed period" of benefits. 

I am disabled and can not perform my duties at the job I had. or any job.
I have total hip replacements and this is my 2nd surgery, I was the guniea pig for the first hip surgery @ JHIN Hopkins hosp., Now, I cannot perform the job I am certified and trained for. can you help?