Why Do Social Security Disability & SSI Cases Take Forever?

Disability cases handled by the Social Security Administration often seem to take forever to process. If a claimant decides to follow the appeal process to the point where their case is heard by an administrative law judge (ALJ), the total wait, from start to finish, is easily three years or more. 

A disappointing reality about the Social Security disability system is that cases wouldn't have to take forever if there were not so many claims inundating the system that are either frivolous or unwinnable. For instance, there are people who apply for disability simply because they are pregnant. No complications, no problems, just pregnant. While you can get state temporary disability benefits for pregnancy in a few states, you can't get Social Security disability or SSI. In addition, when I was a disability claims examiner, I saw too many disability claims for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Certainly, ADHD cases should be taken seriously, because, in legitimate instances, ADHD is a severe and serious condition. However, there are a number of parents who think, because their children take Ritalin, they should receive a monthly disability check. But the truth of the matter is that they have no chance of winning. (If an ADHD child is on medication but is passing subjects in school and is not in special classes, the child will have ZERO chance of being approved for disability.)

Nevertheless, Social Security is legally obligated to take every claim, even those that have no chance of winning. This is, to a large extent, the reason why disability cases take forever.