Rep. Wild Secures Funding for the Social Security Administration to Address Wait Times in House-Passed Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) announced House passage of an additional $300 million she requested for the Social Security Administration to address long wait times and backlog of disability hearings.

The $300 million will go toward additional hires and resources to improve public service at Social Security Administration field offices and direct service operations, with $22 million specifically for hiring at teleservice center operations and $50 million specifically for activities to address the disability hearing backlog.

Wild played a key role in securing the funding by leading a letter with 100 co-signers to the House Appropriations Committee and testifying in front of the Subcommittee on Labor – Health and Human Services about the imperative nature of this request.

“I believe our federal budget reflects our values, and this funding increase represents a commitment to the millions of Americans – retired workers and disabled workers, and families of deceased workers – who depend on Social Security to make ends meet and can’t afford to wait years for a hearing,” Wild said. “There continues to be a significant, and in some cases life-threatening delay in service – this funding is vital to providing the Social Security Administration with additional resources to hire more folks and get through the backlog to help Pennsylvanians receive the services they need.”

Despite the Social Security Administration’s attempts to hit its targets on claims and hearings, there continues to be a significant delay in service. 801,428 people were waiting for a hearing to determine whether they would be awarded their benefits at the end of 2018. The national average wait time for a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits hearing is 535 days, and it is over 700 days in many cities. Last year, Pennsylvania had the longest average wait in the country - 26 months. One Philadelphia woman with multiple sclerosis waited 878 days before getting a favorable ruling.

Each year, thousands of people die on the Social Security Disability waiting list. It is reported that 8,699 Americans died on the disability insurance waiting list in FY16. That number rose to 10,002 in 2017. Americans also receive poor service when contacting field offices. In Albany, NY, wait times inside the field office averaged 40 minutes, and in the same office, phone answer rates were 72% in 2018.

The funding bill is for Fiscal Year 2020, which is October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.

Watch Wild's full testimony here. 

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