CW: Evection
A woman from Prince George, Virginia, who has a rare heart condition , has been waiting nearly four years for Social Security disability benefits. “It’s been very stressful, and I’ve been struggling. I had to get a pacemaker in 2021,” Bobbi Perez explained. “The pacemaker was the only cure according to what my heart doctors told me, so I pretty much had to get it.”
Perez also has sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and restarts. It is characterized by a partial or total collapse of the upper airway, which might result in decreased oxygen saturation or alertness.Sleep apnea symptoms may include snoring, headaches, and excessive fatigue.
The former office receptionist and warehouse worker was denied disability payments by the Social Security Administration in 2021, reapplied the following year, and then waited, and waited, with no results.
“My case had gotten transferred to many different locations,” Perez said. “At one point it was up near Roanoke or Lynchburg. Then it was in Richmond at one time. It was it was back in Petersburg.”
Last summer, as a last resort, she sent an email to CBS 6. So CBS 6 contacted the Richmond SSA spokesperson to inquire about Perez’s case. Someone from the Social Security Administration then called Perez.
“After I first reached out to you all, maybe about a month later, I received a letter saying I was approved for disability,” Perez said.
While the early December letter informed Perez that she was due more than $20,000 in disability back pay for two years, she has yet to receive it nearly two months later. “My lawyer got paid out of my back pay, and the Social Security office has been paid [their $130 service fee] from it,” Perez said. “I still haven’t been paid. No one told me. Her numerous calls and trips to the local SSA office in Petersburg have resulted in no responses. For Perez, the clock is ticking–paying the several months of back rent she owes her patient landlord. And a scary deadline is approaching.
“I actually have an eviction court date coming up on the 28th, and if I don’t pay my rent, I’m going to get locked out of here,” she said. “They gave me chances. I owe late fees, I owe everything. And if I don’t pay it, then I have nowhere to go. And it’s cold outside.”
Unfortunately, Perez is not alone. A national Scripps News investigation discovered that delays have had an impact on disability claims made by over a million Americans across the country.
In 2018, the Social Security Administration made decisions in about three months. Nowadays, the average wait period has almost doubled. In some states, the wait time is significantly longer. Applicants in Florida and Texas have to wait around nine months.
In previous years applications became stuck further along in the process. Now, it often takes months just to get an initial review. In addition, approximately 65% of all disability claims filed with the Social Security Administration are denied on the first application. Your request for disability benefits will continue to be denied by Social Security if you keep submitting new applications rather than filing an appeal.
For some applicants, the repercussions go beyond money. According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2020, “a long wait time may have increased the potential risk of declining health or death” as funding for health care and other basic needs runs out.
In previous years applications became stuck further along in the process. Now, it often takes months just to get an initial review. In addition, approximately 65% of all disability claims filed with the Social Security Administration are denied on the first application. Your request for disability benefits will continue to be denied by Social Security if you keep submitting new applications rather than filing an appeal.
For some applicants, the repercussions go beyond money. According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2020, “a long wait time may have increased the potential risk of declining health or death” as funding for health care and other basic needs runs out.
Contacting the Social Security Administration is another challenge. In a 2022 letter, AARP reported wait times of about 31 minutes. Wait times were almost five times longer than in 2012.
The United States’ disability benefits system needs an overhaul. Benefits must be increased, and the application procedure should be expedited. Many people like Perez depend on these benefits, and thousands die while waiting for an answer.
Sources:
Fitzgerald, Bill. “Disabled Virginia Woman Faces Eviction as Social Security Continues to Hold Money It Says She Qualified For.” WTVR, E. W. Scripps Company, 24 Jan. 2025, http://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/bobbi-perez-social-security-issues-jan-24-2025.
“Konish, Lorie. “As Social Security Disability Application Wait Times Hit Record High, Experts Say It’s a Sign the Agency Needs More Funding.” CNBC, CNBC, 16 Sept. 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/09/16/long-social-security-service-waits-signal-need-for-more-funds.html. “
Singh, Abhinav, and Eric Suni . “Sleep Apnea.” Sleep Foundation, Sleep Foundation, 26 Dec. 2024, http://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-apnea.
S11 E23: Disability Benefits, Trump, Vance & Haiti: 9/22/24: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” 22 Sept. 2024.
Terpstra, Patrick. “Ballooning Backlog of Disability Claims ‘Absolutely a Crisis.’” Scripps News, The E. W. Scripps Company, 24 Oct. 2024, http://www.scrippsnews.com/scripps-news-investigates/ballooning-backlog-of-disability-claims-absolutely-a-crisis.