How long does it take to get a decision after a disability hearing in Texas?
Unfortunately, there's no way to know how long it will take to get a decision after a hearing has been held. And this is, obviously, a matter of great consternation for most claimants who go to a hearing.
Many Social Security Disability and SSI claimants look forward to their disability hearing date as "the end" of the process. However, even after a case has been heard, it may still take an administrative law judge a number of months to have a decision letter sent out. This is true even when a judge who has heard a case indicates at the hearing what the eventual decision will be (typically, a judge will only do this when they are sure they will approve a claim).
Common questions about filing for disability in Texas
Why is there such a lag between the holding of a hearing and the time it takes to receive a social security decision letter? To some extent, because of backlogs in the disability system. At some hearing offices, the backlog reaches into the thousands (of cases). For quite some time, SSA had been making substantial progress in reducing system-wide backlogs. However, beginning several years ago, backlogs began to grow again. The argument has been made that the Social Security Administration simply does not have enough judges to adequately work the backlogs down.
More specifically, what accounts for the amount of time it takes to actually receive a decision from a judge after a hearing has been held? There are a number of factors. One is the fact that sometimes the case is left open so that the claimant's attorney or non-attorney disability representative may obtain and send in medical record documentation that had been requested but which had not arrived by the time of the hearing. Another factor is the fact that while the decisions at the hearing level are made by judges, the decision letters are drafted by decision writers who themselves have backlogs.
Links of particular interest:
Will a Social Security Judge give You an Immediate Decision at the Disability Hearing?;
How Long Does It Take To Get The Results Of A Disability Hearing?
As for how long it may take to actually get a hearing scheduled, assuming that one has (or their a qualified disability and competent attorney or non-attorney claimant's representative) completed the reconsideration appeal phase (and been denied) and then subsequently filed a "request for hearing before an administrative law judge, the following link may be helpful:
How long does it take to get a disability hearing date in Texas?
About the Author: Tim Moore is a former Social Security Disability Examiner in North Carolina, has been interviewed by the NY Times and the LA Times on the disability system, and is an Accredited Disability
Representative (ADR) in North Carolina. For assistance on a disability application or Appeal in NC, click here.
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