Editorial: A disabled agency

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

People waiting for their disability claims to be decided are going broke because the federal government cannot handle the claims quickly enough.

USA Today reported Monday that the understaffed Social Security Administration is adding insult to injury because it takes months, if not years, to give some people final answer s on their claim s . In the meantime, people are forced into even more dire circumstances, such as bankruptcy and homelessness.

When it was under Republican control, Congress spent years trimming the Social Security Administration. In the past two years there were more than 2,300 jobs cut from field offices, where people go in to file and, as is often necessary, appeal their claims.

Two of every three disability claims are initially denied, but those who appeal win more than 60 percent of the time. The average wait for a decision on an appeal is 529 days, roughly 1 1/2 years. In some areas of the country that wait can be as long as 2 1/2 years.

The backlog is a result of cuts that have left the agency at its lowest staffing level since the early 1970s, followed by a dramatic increase in claims.

During the past five years the number of people collecting disability benefits has grown by 24 percent to 15.3 million people. And more will come as Baby Boomers retire.

That is not a surprise. As Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue noted, "It's a combination of two demographic trends - the population getting larger and the population getting older."

Astrue is trying to make it easier to file a claim, but until Congress boosts staff at the agency, those efforts will largely be in vain. People who file for disability are in need, and should not be forced to wait so long for answer s on their claims.

Congress should increase funding and make whatever changes are necessary in the Social Security Administration to cut down the wait.