When you work hard at a Missouri job for years and then develop some type of disability, you may look to the U.S. Social Security Administration to provide you with financial assistance. Social Security Disability Insurance is in place to help individuals with disabilities that are severe enough o prevent them from working. However, the application process for these benefits is often long and complex, which often leads to delays and complications.
According to CNET, while the process of applying for benefits takes time, so, too, does the processing of your application. In fact, wait times for SSDI applicants recently reached an all-time high, leaving many individuals with open applications wondering when they might get answers.
How long claims are taking to process
The main reason SSDI claims are taking so long to process is that the SSA, like many organizations, has faced budget cuts that have impacted its staffing levels. Without enough people on staff to process claims, the SSDI application backlog has continued to grow. As of 2023, the average wait time after an applicant’s first time applying for SSDI was about seven months. This is a three-month-longer turnaround time than that seen in 2019.
What might speed up claims processing
You may be able to have your claim undergo faster processing if you have one of several hundred medical conditions the SSA asserts warrant something called a “compassionate allowance.” The administration makes compassionate allowances, meaning it speeds up the processing time, for applicants who have any of the serious conditions that appear on its compassionate allowances database.
If you do have a condition that warrants a compassionate allowance, know that the SSA has special software that enables your application to automatically undergo faster processing.
