January 1, 2009 - Happy New Year!

May you and your loved ones have a happy and blessed New Year.

As we begin this new year, "turning over a new leaf" and resolutions are common. Maybe you have some habits you want to change, or start, this year. Personally, I do, and the New Year always gives one the chance to 'begin anew,' to start fresh, with a clean slate.

I hope the Social Security Administration shares my enthusiasm for the fresh start. The Obama administration takes over in less than three weeks - what changes in the disability process will that bring? I have hope, but no predictions. Two wars, an economy that appears worse than the Great Depression, car manufacturers ready to go out of business ... I'm not sure that disability is going to get the attention, or the money, that it needs to make the progress necessary.

Those that work for SSA work hard. SSA has been decimated by retirements and hiring freezes over the years that has left it with a reduced work force and increasing work load due to the aging population.

ALJ HEARINGS BACKLOG In Omaha, the wait for a hearing continues to be intolerably long: 603 days on average. There has been no significant change since my previous reports in October or July. These days are calculated only after the ALJ Request has been filed, not when the Application was filed.

For a complete listing of all hearing offices across the country, go to Social Security News published by Charles T. Hall.

Will this long wait get shorter in 2009? Probably not without more personnel and funding for the hearing office in Omaha. I have nothing to indicate that will happen, but I still have hope.

WAITING - Statistics and Rankings for an ALJ Hearing in Omaha

Information effective July 1, 2008 identified the Omaha office of Hearings and Appeals as one in a group of 147 offices across the country. These offices are assigned to hear claims for disability, and the Omaha office is understaffed as the rankings reveal. The hearing is the "3rd step" in a claim for disability, indicating that two previous denials have been issued. That is, the "processing time" in the report only reflects the time the file was at the Omaha office from beginning to end, that is, from start to finish it is longer if the claim gets this far.

The magic numbers:
601 days for processing time
112 - rank of 147 other offices.

Indianapolis ranked last and the processing time is 896 days.

I am a member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) and their recent newsletter published this information that was obtained from the Social Security Administration.