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Dec 31, 2008

Backlog Report December 2008





Click on each thumbnail to view the processing time report for Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, the part of Social Security that holds hearings on disability claims, obtained by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).

Compare the state of the national backlog over time:
  • January 25, 2007 -- 508 days
  • May 25, 2007 -- 523 days
  • July 28, 2007 -- 528 days
  • August 31, 2007 -- 523 days
  • November 30, 2007 -- 500 days
  • February 29, 2008 -- 511 days
  • May 30, 2008 -- 523 days
  • June 27, 2008 -- 529 days
  • July 31, 2008 -- 530 days
  • September 3, 2008 -- 532 days
  • November 5, 2008 -- 476 days
  • December 3, 2008 -- 480 days
Update: I am going to take a guess at the explanation behind that remarkable improvement in the reported backlog between September 3 and November 5. What I think happened was that a few dozen new ALJs came on board during this time period. While the total number of cases backlogged increased, Social Security assumed that the increase in the number of ALJs would improve its output, thus decreasing the wait time.
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:54 AM, December 31, 2008

    Thank you for posting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:45 PM, December 31, 2008

    Charles, instead of guessing at "the explanation behind that remarkable improvement", try understanding what this report is showing you. This is a report of the ACTUAL average processing times by hearing office/site for November 2008. It is NOT a report on the size of the backlog, or the estimating waiting time for cases currently pending in those offices. The reason for the big drop in the national numbers from September to October is most likely that ODAR was pushing to meet their aged case processing goal in September, and processed more cases from the end of the queue than normal. If they then returned to their regular order in October, processing more cases from throughout the queue, processing times would have dropped - much like these numbers show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:29 PM, January 01, 2009

    These numbers are easily manipulated. All they have to do is cherry pick a handful of young cases out of line and it makes a disproportionate impact on the average processing time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:24 AM, January 02, 2009

    I am not sure about cherry picking but in my practice I have seen some cases with "recent" appeals getting scheduled, while other cases with later appeals continue to wait for hearings.

    There isn't necessarily anything nefarious going on.

    One time I mentioned to a scheduling clerk that I was surprised that a particular case was being set for hearing. She responded that the computers had been down for a week and so instead of working on electronic files, everyone had to work on paper files. So a bunch paper files got prepared and set for hearing.

    A few years back, you could count on a case being schedule 12 months after the appeal was filed. Nowadays, the time frame for setting hearings is so broad, that I can only tell my clients that they can expect a hearing anywhere from 6 to 18 months after the appeal is filed. At least in my neck of the woods (Colorado).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:14 AM, January 02, 2009

    SSA has a long and infamous history of manipulating statistics. That is more likely than not, in my experience.

    ReplyDelete