According to a recent news article from The San Diego Tribune, the wait for a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) appeals hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) is averaging 540 days for many claimants. These are the hearings held at the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) offices around the nation.
When someone first becomes disabled to the point where he or she can no longer work, that person will typically apply for a type of disability benefits known as Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. This program was designed to help those who have worked for a large portion of their adult lives before suffering a disability that no longer allows that person to work. In some cases, we are dealing with former members of the U.S. military that have already exhausted their options with the Veterans Administration (VA), and, in other cases, we are dealing with people who have been injured on the job and have already reached Maximum Medical Intervention (MMI) in the workers’ compensation cases and are in need of Social Security disability benefits. Continue reading