In December, 2011, the Social Security Administration began a new policy concerning the identity of the Judge assigned to a Claimant’s case. Neither the social security attorney nor the disabled claimant will learn of the Judge’s name until the day of the hearing. This is a major and unfortunate SSI policy change. Different social security […]

The Social Security Administration has recently released updated information as to the time it takes to receive a decision at the hearing level. These statistics are current as of January 28, 2011. The North Suburban Evanston office now ranks 23rd nationally out of 157 offices, with an average processing time of 298 days. The West […]

The 2009 Board of Trustees Report for the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds was released earlier this year. The 2009 report finds that the trust funds’ reserves are projected to be depleted in 2037, down from 2041 as predicted in the 2008 report. The main culprit is not surprisingly the recession, with negative real […]

As of June 26, 2009 the average processing times to obtain a social security hearing had worsened in the local Chicago area offices. The downtown Chicago office now takes 650 days to reach decision on an appeal. The south suburban Orland Park office takes 591 days and the west suburban Oak Brook Terrace office takes […]

Nationwide, there has been an increase of 12.5% in new claims filed through May, 2009, compared with the same period last year. It is expected that the impact of the increase in new claims filed will reach the hearing level later this year, as denied claimants file their appeals.