Commissioner Michael J. Astrue of the Social Security has recently announced that the backlog for Social Security hearings is at its lowest rate since 2005.
In a statement, the commissioner said that the agency’s measures to diminish backlogs appear to be working as the hearings for unresolved cases drop down to 697,437.
To lessen the backlogs, SSA has increased the number of hearings by 10 percent in 14 months and lessened the number of days that the decision will be released. It is now down to 442 from 514 in Fiscal Year 2008 which means the beneficiaries will know the outcome of the hearing two and a half months earlier.
Aside from this, the agency also hired 147 more Administrative Law Judge and more than a thousand other employees for the Fiscal Year 2009 to accommodate the adjusted hearing schedules.
These changes will further help claimants receive much-needed benefits at an earlier time.
In a statement, the commissioner said that the agency’s measures to diminish backlogs appear to be working as the hearings for unresolved cases drop down to 697,437.
To lessen the backlogs, SSA has increased the number of hearings by 10 percent in 14 months and lessened the number of days that the decision will be released. It is now down to 442 from 514 in Fiscal Year 2008 which means the beneficiaries will know the outcome of the hearing two and a half months earlier.
Aside from this, the agency also hired 147 more Administrative Law Judge and more than a thousand other employees for the Fiscal Year 2009 to accommodate the adjusted hearing schedules.
These changes will further help claimants receive much-needed benefits at an earlier time.
