Social Security backlog needs funding
Share Now on:
Social Security backlog needs funding
TEXT OF STORY
Renita Jablonski: Then there’s the backlog for Social Security benefits. The average wait for a case hearing is now over 16 months. Today, some members of Congress will consider the President’s request for an extra $600 million to hire more judges and support staff. John Dimsdale has more.
John Dimsdale: Three-quarters of a million Americans are in line for a hearing on their Social Security disability benefits. Some have had to wait three years for benefits that average $860 a month. Richard Warsinskey, the district manager of the Cleveland Social Security Field Office, says the President’s budget request is welcome.
Richard Warsinskey: It won’t take care of the problem this year, because the backlog is so large and the agency has been so underfunded in past years. But it’s a good step.
Some congressional Democrats are pushing for an additional $240 million. That would eliminate the backlog a year earlier — by 2012. But field manager Warsinskey says baby boomers beginning to file for regular Social Security benefits may be creating another backup.
Warsinskey: We get so many calls coming in that the busy rate when you call a local field office is over 50 percent.
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue says reducing the disability backlog is a moral imperative.
In Washington, I’m John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
