During the Social Security Disability process you have to expect to do some waiting, a lot of it. The waiting game is no more evident than when you have filed a request for hearing before an administrative law judge. This is where the vast majority of disability claims end up, if a claimant keeps appealing unfavorable decisions. This phase provides for the longest wait times.
On average, the wait time for a hearing before an ALJ is about 12 to 15 months nationwide, but all hearings offices are different and they all have different amounts of backlogged cases. Depending on where you live, and which Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) is scheduling a claimant’s hearing, wait times can be drastically different. Social Security has narrowed wait times down to the number of months it takes for a hearing to be held from the date of request. Looking at the good and the bad, here are hearings offices with the least amount of wait time compared with the offices where claimants do the most waiting.
The Good: Of the 168 different hearings offices, two are in the state of Louisiana (Metairie and Shreveport), both which have average wait times of seven months. Honolulu, HI also has an average wait time of seven months, while Anchorage, AK comes in at 7.5 months. Downtown Los Angles, CA; Madison, WI; Stockton, CA and Fort Smith, AR are also doing fairly well with average wait times of eight months.
The Bad: Clearly the longest wait time for a hearing is the Fort Myers, FL ODAR with a 22-month wait, followed by another Florida city, Miami, with a 19-month wait. Doing slightly better than Fort Myers and Miami are Charlotte, NC (18 months), Jacksonville, FL (17.5 months) and the NationalHearingCenter in Baltimore, MD; Greensboro, NC; Baltimore, MD and Atlanta North, GA all which have 17-month waits.
To learn more click here.
