House Committee on Ways and Means investigates clearing the disability backlog

The House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing today to investigate why Social Security distribution backlogs are at an all time high. Wait times for people in need to receive money range from 500 to over 700 days, with districts in urban communities like Atlanta and Milwaukee being among those with the longest waits.

The Committee questioned Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Michael Astrue about the progress his staff has had in solving the backlog problem. Astrue explained that his group was succeeding in making progress to help individuals in need of receiving their social security benefits, but that his program was vastly under-funded. Commissioner Astrue emphasized the importance of having more, better allocated money for hiring staffers and making the money distribution process run faster and more effectively.

Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) told Astrue that the issue of providing social security and helping Americans is one that is “neither Republican nor Democrat.” His sentiments were backed by members like Jim McDermott (D-WA) who said that the current murky backlog situation is “lose lose” for everybody involved.