As a Social Security disability law office we know a lot about the disability process, but even when we inform our clients of Social Security’s rules, or lack thereof, sometimes it is difficult to believe, but we understand that.
One of the most difficult things to believe is that Social Security is under no deadline to render decisions on disability claims. If you ask Social Security, a representative might tell you that you can expect a decision within 90 days of the application being filed and a good chunk of decisions are issued during this timetable, but plenty are not. There are no rules related to deadline in which a decision needs to be made. We have seen initial application decisions that many times take more than six months before a decision is rendered and in rare cases well over a year. Adding to this is that there are more steps to the process if a claimant is medically denied. In most states there is the appeal stage that can last up to another six months and the hearing phase most definitely will take longer than a year.
The same cannot be said about Medicare, which is closely tied to Social Security. Seniors and disabled workers who receive Social Security benefits are entitled to Medicare benefits, but there are rules that can determine eligibility for Medicare as well and there are rules related to timetables for Medicare decisions unlike Social Security. The rule states that an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) must “render a decision on such a hearing but not later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date a request for hearing has been timely filed.”
One has to wonder why the same rules don’t apply to Social Security disability claims. To look closer at the Medicare rules click here.
