Although wait times for disability decisions have unproved in the past few years, in real time, for real people, delays of two to three years from application date are common, and virtually impossible to manage effectively. Take a look at this TV station’s investigation of a case in Buffalo NY:
Back and neck injuries have prevented Kathy Nobilio from working since December 2010.
She filed a claim for Social Security Disability the following July, and an administrative law judge heard Nobilio’s case on February 25, 2013.
The long wait for a decision was about to cost Nobilio everything, including her house in Ransomville, so she contacted Call 4 Action last September. She was desperate.
“I’m afraid I’m going to lose my house. The bank has been very patient. I’ve always worked all my life, and paid my bills on time.”
In the course of the News 4 investigation, it was discovered claims processing times in the Buffalo Office of Disability Adjudication and Review were among the longest in the country, and Nobilio’s judge was at the bottom for Buffalo’s 13 sitting administrative law judges.
Nobilio’s story aired last February, and a lot of changes have taken place since then. The best change came on Wednesday, when Nobilio received two years of retroactive disability benefits.://wivb.com/2014/09/03/call-4-action-3-year-wait-for-social-security-disability-is-finally-over/