California Senator Calls for an End to Lengthy Backlog of Social Security Disability Claims

Washington, DCSpeaking before a joint congressional hearing earlier this week, Democratic Representative Bob Filner tasked his fellow members of Congress with ending the excessive backlog of social security disability claims.

The reason for this call to action from the California congressman is the ever-expanding list of social security claimants who wait for months, sometimes years, to receive benefits, due to state-mandated furloughs in California and other territories throughout the country.

Filner points out that even though the furloughs were put in place to save the state money, these workers are in fact federally funded, and are therefore needlessly kept from their appointed task.

"Disability applicants are being denied the opportunity to have their cases fairly and accurately decided," Filner told his colleagues in Congress. "This is inhumane and unacceptable treatment of our disabled, many of whom are children, the elderly, and veterans who have nobly served this country."

Prior to the furloughs, a claimant in California was assigned an analyst within 48 hours. Under the new system, claims can be suspended for as long as two months before being assigned an analyst. The national backlog of SSD claims consists of nearly one million Americans, according to the Imperial Valley News.