Social Security to put hearing office in LV

Sonya Padgett

Wednesday, June 2, 1999 | 12:06 p.m.

Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan Tuesday announced plans to open a Las Vegas office dedicated to handling appeals from local Social Security applicants who are denied benefits.

The new Social Security hearing office will end the long-standing policy of sending Las Vegas appeals to Tucson, Ariz., and Reno appeals to Salt Lake City, Bryan said.

Applicants are denied benefits for a variety of reasons and can always appeal if they are turned down. Often denials are made if questions exist about a person's work history, Bryan, D-Nev., said. Also people who apply for disability benefits are routinely denied, according to Patricia Murphy, Bryan's spokeswoman.

Last year more than 1,400 Nevadans were tied up in the appeals process. The office is needed to help handle population growth and shorten the length of time it currently takes for an appeal to be heard.

Because the appeals process takes place in another state, a Nevadan's case is heard on average one year after it's filed, Reid, D-Nev., said, but the Social Security Administration can take up to two years to make a final decision.

A one-year wait can be disastrous for senior citizens or people with disabilities because they often have no other source of income while an appeal is being considered, Bryan said.

"These people are often in desperate financial circumstances," he said.

The announcement is the result of years of work by Bryan and Reid, who collaborated with the commissioner of Social Security, Kenneth Apfel, to get the office opened in Nevada.

"This is a huge victory for Nevada's booming senior population," Bryan said. "As the nation's fastest-growing state, we have clearly established the urgent need of this hearing office."

In Nevada more 250,000 people collect more than $2 billion a year in Social Security benefits, according to Reid.

"It seems if we spend that much, people ought to be able to have their appeal heard here in Nevada," Reid said.

The Las Vegas location will be the nation's 141st such office, and while it isn't clear how much time can be shaved off the current wait, the hearing office is expected to greatly shorten the average one-year appeal process, Bryan said.

The office will employ 18 staff members in a location yet to be determined and is scheduled to open later this year.