RICHMOND, Va. -- Thousands of Virginians are fighting a system in "crisis" that's meant to serve as a security blanket for those unable to work due to illness or injury.
As CBS 6 has previously reported, it can take multiple years for some people to get crucial financial assistance that they've already paid into through the Social Security Administration's disability program.
And the agency's leader is warning that the situation could continue worsening.
Long wait times, delayed decisions
Many disability claimants have told CBS 6 that long wait times, delayed decisions, and wrongful denials are causing them to go broke and even contemplate suicide.
“It’s been very difficult, and I had to seek therapy because I was considering suicide," Earl Barry said about his experience applying for benefits.
Barry filed disability claims beginning in 2021 while suffering from a heart condition that he called "debilitating." He was denied multiple times, but he didn't understand why and struggled to get answers from representatives with the SSA.
As he fought the SSA's denials, Barry was forced to file for bankruptcy and was on the brink of losing his Buckingham County home.
"I'll be living in my car. There's nowhere I can go," Barry told CBS 6. "And I don't have any income. I literally have no money."
It wasn't until CBS 6 inquired about Barry's case with the SSA that his claim was finally approved.
But his story isn't unique.
People across the country have reached out to CBS 6 to share similar concerns about excruciating delays and perceived errors in having their cases reviewed:
- “Sometimes it’s just like what do I even wake up for? Just to feel miserable and know that I have nothing?" - Lisa Harris
- “It’s just a waiting game, so I’m just like, how long are we supposed to wait?” - Tammie Tyler
- "It's really disappointing because I have paid into this system my whole life. I've always believed in it." - Jeffrey Silverman
- "Your case is pending, your case is pending. No updates, no nothing. It's completely frustrating" - James Moore
- "I honestly never thought this was going to take this long, but it grates on you" - Lowell Murray
"Absolutely a crisis"
Last year in Virginia, data showed it took 228 days on average for the SSA to initially approve or deny a disability claim. A reconsideration request took another 221 days. Additional appeals could drag out that timeline even further.
But these delays can have devastating consequences. A 2020 report from the Government Accountability Office found "a long wait time may have increased the potential risk of declining health or death."
In 2023, it was estimated that 30,000 people died with pending disability applications, which is believed to be the highest number of deaths in the history of the program, according to the agency's chief actuary.
“It is absolutely a crisis. Hey man, when 30,000 people die waiting in line, it's a crisis," SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley told Scripps News.
O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland and former Democratic presidential candidate was appointed by President Biden in 2023 to lead the federal agency.
CBS 6 partnered with Scripps News Investigates to ask O'Malley to address the concerns claimants have brought to light over the past several months.
“What I say to them is that there are compassionate and dedicated people throughout this agency, fewer than there used to be, right? But they are mindful every single day of the suffering that people are enduring, waiting in line and sometimes dying in line," O'Malley said.
How did it get to this point?
O'Malley described the declining state of the disability program as a "self-inflicted wound."
Simply put, he said the SSA is serving an all-time high number of customers with a historically low number of staff across the agency, which is negatively affecting customer service and causing backlogs in state disability determination offices.
Data provided by the SSA in August showed Virginia's disability determination agency had 40 vacancies out of 458 total positions. And staffing concerns aren't new.
A 2018 audit from the Virginia Inspector General's office warned at the time of continuous staff turnover that exceeded the national average, loss of experienced claims examiners, and an overwhelming workload for employees who are tasked with complex responsibilities to include reviewing extensive medical records.
Noting that the disability agency is entirely funded and overseen by the SSA, the audit warned that a failure to address these issues would lead to an inability to provide Virginia citizens with the timely processing of their disability claims.
Over the past eight years, O'Malley said there's been a 20% reduction of staff in state disability determination offices.
The culprit of deteriorating service and a shrinking workforce, according to O'Malley, is Congress.
“They're really the key to our being able to provide the timely service, that people are denied for no good reason," O'Malley said. “Congress has underfunded, undercut, and reduced the president's proposed funding by $3 billion just over a four-year period of time.”
It's money that O'Malley said could be used to hire more people, approve overtime pay, and reduce the disability claims backlog. But he said Congress has limited the amount of funding the agency can spend on operating expenses.
Some lawmakers seem to agree with O'Malley, while others remain skeptical.
"Social Security must have the resources to do its work properly," Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D - Rhode Island) said during a senate budget committee meeting in September.
“The president’s budget blames agency shortfalls for needing more money. I think it has a lot to do with looking at the processes, how it’s run before we throw more money at it," Senator Mike Braun (R - Indiana) said during a Senate committee meeting in March.
Scripps News Investigates asked O'Malley whether all his agency's shortfalls were due to limited funding and staffing. For instance, claimants have raised concerns about administrative errors including paperwork that goes missing and decisional mistakes.
"Some of this doesn't seem like a staffing or money issue," Scripps News investigative reporter Patrick Terpstra said.
"All of these things ultimately come back to the big context of serving more customers than ever with fewer staff than ever. It's not an automated machine that takes those papers to make sure they're scanned, to make sure they go to the next level. We've gotten much better at that, but we're not perfect," O'Malley responded.
"It will get worse"
O'Malley added that he has made some administrative improvements such as enhancing the application process, the customer service helpline, and technology systems.
He's also directed the agency to clear the backlog of the longest pending cases and has reduced the wait times for adjudicatory hearings, which come later in the appeals process.
SSA data shows disability processing times are beginning to decrease, including in Virginia.
However, O'Malley fears those improvements aren't sustainable.
“It is getting slightly better, but over the long term, it will get worse if Congress doesn't act," O'Malley said.
President Biden's budget requests $15.4 billion for the SSA. At this point, Congress has not yet agreed to meet that request.
Current federal funding levels have been frozen through late December, so there's still a chance Congress could choose to increase funding once those funds expire.
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