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Disability claims slow processing times for claimants Buffalo third longest wait time for benefits

Posted: November 11, 2011

Buffalo, NY -- Larry Gatti, a 47-year-old former fork lift operator from Tonawanda, NY, is expecting his first check from Social Security Disability (SSD) at the beginning of December. Due to complications from diabetes and depression, Gatti has not worked since 2009, when he filed his initial application for SSD. Social Security determined that he has been disabled since June of that year, when Gatti’s doctors told him not to return to work.

“It’s been very stressful,” Gatti said. “My wife works but these days one breadwinner isn’t enough. We have had our water and gas shut off, we’ve had to use the Food Bank -- without help from our family and friends I don’t know how we would have made it through this past two and a half years.”

Gatti’s case is not unusual, according to Jeffrey Freedman, senior partner, Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys at Law. About two-thirds of initial applications for SSD are denied, and since the recession began, claims have surged, from 2.6 million in 2008 to 3.16 million for the 2011 fiscal year. This has caused an increase in the backlog Social Security was attempting to reduce, and an extension of the time it takes to process claims.

“The Buffalo region has one of the worst records for processing times,” Freedman said. “With most claimants waiting 483 days from initial application to receiving benefits, we have the third longest wait time in the country.”

Next month, relief will also come for Jamey Kuczkowski, a 39-year-old who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). For the past two years, Kuczkowski, who was a laborer for a moving company, has been living with a friend in Cheektowaga while his SSD claim was being processed.

“I’ve been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul,” Kuczkowski said. “I expect to get a check for payments retro-active to March 2010 in December. I can’t tell you what a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders.”

In its Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2008 to 2013, the Social Security Administration set a goal to reduce pending cases to 466,000 and to handle and decide cases in an average of 270 days throughout the country (information provided by Transational Records Access Clearinghouse {TRAC} at Syracuse University). The agency was on track to meet those goals until summer 2010, when the rising number of new hearing requests began to increase wait times, even though staffing levels had been increased. For the past five consecutive quarters, pending cases have grown, impeding the agency’s efforts to improve.

“With 9.1 percent unemployment, if a disabled person who was able to work at a certain job because their employer made accommodations for their disability has been laid off, their prospects for finding a new job are very dim,” Freedman said. “Employers are more likely to hire healthy workers they don’t have to make accommodations for, who potentially will be in the workforce longer.”

Gatti and Kuczkowski were both aware when they filled for SSD it was likely their initial applications would be denied, and that the wait time to receive benefits would be a long one. They both also said retaining the service of an experienced law firm such as Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys helped relieve the stress of getting through the process because they knew everything was being handled as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“The stress during those two and half years, though, definitely worsened my condition,” said Gatti, “Even with the health insurance provided by my wife’s job, I ran up medical bills for co-pays. It was also stressful for my son and daughter (ages 20 and 18), who tried to help out as much as they could.”

Social Security Disability is not a gold mine. The average monthly check is around $1,070, but both Gatti and Kuczkowski are relieved they’ll soon be getting benefits.

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” Gatti said. “At least now I won’t have to rely as much on my family and friends.”

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