Here in Maine and New Hampshire, where I attend Social Security disability hearings with administrative law judges, the hearing offices have caught up. Hearings are being scheduled promptly, with 75+ days notice, after the hearing request is processed. Many years ago, when I started handling these cases, the hearing offices had a large backlog of cases, and hearing delays were well over a year, sometimes 2 years. That was a long time to wait for a person unable to work to earn an income.

Social Security committed resources to improve the situation. Technology and the electronic claim file have certainly helped. It is terrific to see these cases move expeditiously now at the hearing level.

At the initial and reconsideration levels of review, however, delays have gotten worse. There seem to be enough disability adjudicators making determinations. And again, technology and the electronic claim file have helped, because claims can easily be transmitted to offices that have available capacity.

The problem is that each disability claim must go through a medical review, and there are simply not enough doctors reviewing these claims. After a disability adjudicator has gathered the medical records, a completed Work History Report, and an Adult Function Report, the claim goes into a queue for medical review. And it may sit in the queue for months before it is assigned to a doctor to review the claim and assess a residual functional capacity. Sometimes that in-house doctor will not have sufficient evidence, and a consultative exam is scheduled. That can add another 1-2 months to a claim, because there are a limited number of doctors conducting those examinations. As a result, some initial claims are taking 8-9 months for a determination. That is longer than it should be.