Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) June 12, 2014
A recent report by the Social Security Administration (http://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/01_NetStat_Report.html) shows the average time from the date of disability hearing request until the hearing is held is longer in Baltimore than in only two other cities. A person who files a Social Security disability claim in Baltimore can expect to wait 17 months for a hearing, a fact described by disability attorney Steve Heisler as “shameful.”
“This delay in processing hearing requests goes way beyond being inefficient,” said Heisler. “Are the SSA workers incompetent or do they just not care? Marylanders who have been injured or suffer from a medical condition which makes it impossible for them to work and support themselves and their families ought not have to endure poverty while bureaucrats push papers around.”
According to SSA statistics, only the offices in Miami and Fort Myers, Fla., have longer wait times. Disability claimants in Washington, DC, experience an average wait of 14 months, and in Philadelphia it’s 12 to 14 months.
There are 11,530 cases pending in the Baltimore Social Security office, reported a June 2 article (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-06-02/news/bs-md-ssa-delay-20140602_1_disability-backlog-ruppersberger-inspector-general) in the Baltimore Sun. “Each one of those cases represents a person, and each disabled person’s case also affects his or her family members, so the number of Maryland residents harmed financially is substantially larger than the pending figure on the report – and as the months pass, the claimants’ physical condition is likely to get worse as well, making life even tougher for their loved ones.”
Maryland Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger has called upon the Social Security’s Acting Commissioner to develop a plan to reduce the backlog of Baltimore hearing requests.
“Somebody needs to step in here,” said Heisler, “and find a remedy for whatever is causing the Baltimore office to fail in its duty to the citizens of our state. People who are disabled feel helpless enough as it is. They don’t also need to feel unimportant.”
About Steven H. Heisler, The Injury Lawyer
Since his graduation from the University of Baltimore Law School in 1988, Steven H. Heisler has focused on making a difference for those who have suffered an injury in Maryland or the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit http://www.theinjurylawyermd.com/.
Steven H. Heisler, Esq.
The Law Offices of Steven H. Heisler
1011 N. Calvert Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
