How Long Will People Wait for SSA

People who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance in Maryland may be waiting a significant amount of time before they receive a response as to whether they are approved for benefits. The number of people who receive SSDI benefits has risen from 7.6 million to almost 11 million within the last decade. This surge has created a backlog of over 990,000 applications, which may take up to 400 days or more for officials to make a decision when it comes to approving SSDI benefits.

For people who have served their country, it may take even longer to have their applications approved. In order to expedite the application process, certain veterans applying for benefits have now been added to a list of high-priority applicants. Of the 450,000 veterans in Maryland, approximately 63,750 of them receive benefits from the VA, according to the SSA.

Once people have submitted an application for SSDI benefits, their case is reviewed to established whether their disability meets the requirements under the SSA’s definition of disabled. This means that administrators may have to contact medical professionals and wait for responses on the applicant’s current condition. However, veterans who have been classified by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs as fully disabled may not have to wait for this lengthy process to occur. This includes veterans who have been wounded in combat and are sent home because of their extensive injuries. Rather than have to wait months, or even years to receive SSDI benefits, these veterans would have their applications pushed through the system.