More Money for Social Security, May Not Be Enough

The social security system in our country is sorely underfunded and understaffed. There are many backlogs and Americans with mental and physical impairments wait for inhumane amounts of time to get the money they need to live and support their families.

In light of this problem, President Bush and Congress have given the Social Security Administration an extra $148 million to help in 2008. The proposal for 2009 is nearly $600 million extra.

This would seem to take care of the long waits, but many feel this is not enough. They say it is not simply money that needs to be addressed, but a shortage of law judges, increased cases every year and a lack of support staff. It is not just an underfunding of money for those with disabilities, which is a problem, but it is also an issue with the system and not having the resources or people to shorten the long waits.

The agency expects claims to rise 40% due to the baby boomer generation and many are saying that giving millions isn’t enough to make a real change; we need billions.

The average wait time to get a disability hearing decision is around 16 months. Many people, over 300,000 have to wait over a year, while 63,000 or so have been waiting for over 1,000 days – around 3 years.

While the extra money will help, it might not be enough to make a real change in the system.






For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center















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