The average wait times were released by Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. The time it takes to make a choice can affect people who are applying for SSDI.
Usually, you have to wait 5 months before you can get Social Security Disability Insurance. Before SSA can start sending you disability payments, you have to wait this long. Most of the time, your first SSDI check or direct payment will come 6 months after the date they say your disability began.
SSDI’s current average wait time for an initial decision
The wait time for the first Disability ruling is now 236 days, as of September 2024. Remember that SSA wants to solve the problem in 5 months, which is 150 to 153 days.
You can see that there is a big delay. People who receive benefits with the least amount of money may not be able to handle this wait. So, they have to depend on other forms of Federal or State financial aid, such as SNAP benefits.
The wait time for the first disability ruling has increased compared to the previous fiscal year. It looks like wait times have grown by 15 days since the same time last fiscal year.
Other wait times that may also affect SSDI applicants and recipients
If you need to call the 800 number for Social Security, you might have to wait up to 24 minutes. This number has gone down, which is good news. So it’s 20 minutes faster than it was at the same time last year.
A person applying for SSDI may have to wait up to 233 days for a decision on a Disability Reconsideration. Which is a lot like the one for making the first choice. It’s even worse that the wait time has grown to 26 days longer.
In the same way, it can take a long time for SSDI applicants to get hearing results. It could last for 322 days all together. The wait time has gone down, even though it seems like a really long time. It’s 132 days shorter than the previous fiscal year.
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