According to figures from the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, known as NOSSCR -- or noss-car -- the backlog of people around the country waiting for decisions on their social security disability applications increased by more than 38 percent last year.
Nationally, the number of new claims filed between 2008 and 2009 jumped 14 percent. In Maine, it was slightly higher: 17 percent. Topsham attorney Jim Fongemie says all this is creating longer wait times for decisions and hardships for his clients who are appealing their initial denials.
"I have clients who call in and say, 'I'm being evicted. I can't pay my rent. I can't buy medication. I can't go see a doctor. I can't buy food," Fongemie says. "So there are people in really, really dire straits, and obviously the longer they have to wait for a decision, the more difficult it is."
Workers who file for disability do so at a district office of the Social Security Administration. A file is then created and shipped to the state agency known as Disability Determination Services, or DDS, where the applicant's medical records are gathered and reviewed by doctors and where the claim is either accepted or rejected.
In Maine, about 35 percent of applications are accepted on the first try. If rejected, applicants can ask for reconsideration. Scott Mack, director of Maine's DDS, says that can take longer -- but how much longer depends on the case. Traditionally, Mack says, it used to take about 70 days for an initial decision.
"And last year that went up to about 80 days -- from the time the first claims comes into the Maine DDS to the time that we make a decision," Mack says. "Now, if that claim is denied, there's a reconsideration process that could tack on another 60, 70 days -- and if that claim is denied and he appeals that, it can be longer than that going to the next step of appeals."
That next step is a chance to plead the case in front of a U.S. administrative law judge. Attorney Jim Fongemie says Maine's average processing time of more than 10 **** is pretty good compared to most other states. But he says it still creates problems for people like Jeff Ham of Auburn. Ham was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in his early 40s. He continued to work, even though his job required heavy lifting and long periods of standing.
Now 56, he says he began struggling with simple physical tasks. And so last February he filed for disability. "And in June I got my denial, which -- I was expecting a denial anyways, so many people have told me that you will not probably qualify the first time, that you'll have to go through the appeal process," Ham says. "So that's when I contacted Jim Fongime, and he did the appeal for me."
With his attorney's help, Ham was able to get the earlier decision reversed and avoid appearing before an administrative law judge. But as it was, his ten-month wait forced him and his wife to raid their savings account to make up for his lost income.
"By getting the approval, it's a tremendous relief," Ham says. "My wife had just told me that it was getting down to where she was going to go paycheck to paycheck to keep us going, so this came through just at the right time."
Ham joins the ranks of about 80,000 other Mainers who have qualified for social security disability. Scott Mack of DDS says the percentage is one of the highest in the nation. He says it's projected that next year, as many as 4,700 more people will apply for disability in Maine. That will come on top of the number that are already waiting for decisions at various levels of appeal.
It's a trend that mirrors what's happening around the country, says spokesman Steve Richardson of the Social Security Administration. "We always see the unemployment rate affects the number of disability claims we receive, and with the recent unemployment numbers at over ten percent, the number of our disability applications are expected to peak in 2010 at over 3.3 million, and that's kind of what we're seeing."
Attorney Jim Fongemie says what he's seeing is processing times double. But he and others are hopeful that as the economy improves, the backlog of applicants will decline.