Quote:
Originally Posted by amodernphoenix
Janke, when I mentioned getting a decision from the judge, I meant a written decision received in the mail. I realize there is nobody twiddling their fingers, but I also realize the average turnaround time right now seems to be 30 days for Baltimore. A representative of Social Security told me that they have had my case in the processing center since June 25th and their records show notations of them beginning work on it last Tuesday. My question was how long does it actually take for them to process it once they begin working it, not once it was placed in their queue.
Maybe I sound like I'm not being reasonable, but please try and remember that you don't know my situation or why I'm so persistent. I am 36 years old, married with 4 kids and disabled through no fault of my own. I would give anything to be able to work again and support my family, yet I can't and I am currently in default on many of my bills. Oh, and there was never an SSI claim.
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You stated that your big question was how long does it usually take. That is the question I tried to answer. When I was talking about reasonable expectations, I considered the backlogs in the payment center, the cutoff dates for checks to be issued, all the work that still has to be done by the payment center before the benefits are paid. I actually understand your desire to get paid as soon as possible, but none of that changes that every component of SSA has always had excessive amounts of work to do that make it difficult to impossible to pay you on your schedule.
Asking how long a case will take is kind of like asking how long it will take a traffic jam to clear up or how long it will take in one grocery line over another. There are variables in your claim that may or may not be evident in another claim. The claims authorizer on your claim may be a recently promoted benefits authorizer who needs additional review or it could be a 20 year SSA veteran who can make all decisions indepedently. The claims rep who took your claim in the initial inteview may have never gotten all relevent proofs that are required for the non-medical adjudication. Or made an error that needs resolution. Impossible to guess. I stand by my answer.
I find it a bit odd that you would not have filed for SSI, a public assistance disability program, when you are default on many bills. Perhaps whatever income you do have is still too high for SSI but not enough for your living expenses. But it is your life and no one can or should force you to apply for SSI. But even though the payment computations for SSI are done in your local office, you still have to provide sufficient evidence of income and resources, and the staff in your local office has to have time to adjudicate your claim. SSI is not always paid more quickly that SSDI.