People who file for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are unable to work to earn money, so they seek the benefits from a program that they paid in to while they did work. Sadly, some applicants never see a penny of that money because they pass away while they’re facing the appeal process.
From 2014 through 2019, approximately 110,000 Americans passed away before they got a decision regarding their appeal. These individuals never got the benefits that they were waiting for and there’s a good chance that they were suffering from financial hardships without any source of income.
Some applicants also had to file for bankruptcy. During that same period, there were 48,000 applicants who took this step to try to relieve financial pressure.
One of the reasons for these issues is that there was a very lengthy wait time for the appeal process. It ballooned to over two years, which the Social Security Administration blamed on an uptick in applications. This doesn’t help the people who needed to receive benefits and never did or those who had to file for bankruptcy.
For individuals who are filing for these benefits, remembering that there is a wait time and possibly a lengthy appeal process in front of them might be beneficial. There aren’t really any ways that you can speed things up, but you can ensure that you have your application and all information filled out accurately and completely so that there is less of a chance of a hold-up because of an issue with those aspects of the case. Having an attorney assist you can be beneficial.
