U.S. residents seeking to appeal a Social Security Administration ruling on disability claims can wait as long as three years for a decision, the New York Times reports. Although two-thirds of those who are initially denied a claim win their cases in appeal, "in the meantime, more and more people have lost their homes, declared bankruptcy or even died while awaiting an appeals hearing," according to the Times.

The backlog for appeals hearings has increased to 755,000 appeals from 311,000 in 2000, and the wait for an appeals hearing averages 500 days. Hiring the additional 150 administrative law judges necessary to reduce the backlog will require $100 million more than President Bush requested in his fiscal year 2008 budget. Without the additional judges, "federal officials predict even longer waits and more of the personal tragedies that can result from years of painful uncertainty," the Times reports.

SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue has implemented changes to speed the appeals process, including quicker approval for those obviously eligible and the use of video hearings, but "by all accounts, a major increase in money, judges and support staff will be needed to have a significant impact," according to the Times. Astrue said that if the budget standoff continues and the agency is funded at FY 2007 levels through a continuing resolution, "not only will we not do any hiring, we're looking at furloughs" (Eckholm, New York Times, 12/10).