Delays in the Issuance of Hearing Decisions

In the Atlanta, Georgia area much progress has been made in hearing Social Security cases. In 2008 and on into 2009 Atlanta began implementing video hearing centers. By doing this, the two to three year wait to have a Social Security case heard was dramatically decreased. The process sped up so much in fact that many lawyers claimed their ability to have these cases heard so quickly meant they were able to double their case load.

Using the video hearing centers greatly improved the time it took for people to get their cases heard, but it did not do much in the way of helping those who received favorable decisions to get their payments started any sooner.

Many of the reasons for delays in the delivery of the hearing decisions were due to insufficient staff people at the hearing offices, an inefficient process as to how the staff members that weren’t even at the hearing were the ones to actually write the decision, and the Social Security Administration’s refusal to permit lawyers from drafting the favorable decisions. If they would allow for the lawyers to do this it would greatly reduce the administrative burden on the staff of the SSA office and greatly speed up the process of payment disbursement.

Sometimes the judge will announce at the end of the hearing what the ruling is on the case. If the judge rules a favorable decision, it does not go into effect until it is in writing. This may take three to six months in the Atlanta area. With many of these clients struggling to make ends meet the last thing they want to know is that they have been approved but to not know when they can expect to receive their benefits.

Right now there is no quick fix for this problem, at least not in my eyes. Things need to start changing and I suspect they will. As the implementation of video hearings has sped up the hearing process, soon an effort will be made to speed up the writing of the decision as well as the disbursement of the payments. We just have to wait it seems. This is something that most people filing for SSI benefits are used to by now.