U.S. House approves funding boost for the SSA after request from Rep. Susan Wild

Testifying before a U.S. House panel in March, Lehigh Valley Congresswoman Susan Wild told her colleagues about a West Philadelphia woman who waited 878 days before gaining a favorable ruling from the Social Security Administration on her disability claim.

The woman, Adrianne Gunter, is unable to work due to multiple sclerosis. She also had the unfortunate luck of living in the city with the longest wait time for those appealing a denial of disability benefits, with the Philadelphia Inquirer finding an average backlog of 26 months.

Wild, a Democrat representing the 7th Congressional District, which covers Lehigh, Northampton and southern Monroe counties, called on the House Appropriations Committee to approve an additional $300 million in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget for the Social Security Administration, with the goal of reducing those delays.

The committee agreed, and a government spending bill that passed the U.S. House this week includes that higher amount of funding, which would be used for hiring more staffers and other resources for Social Security Administration field offices. Of that additional money, $50 million for activities to address the disability hearing backlog and $22 million would be directed for hiring at teleservice center operations.

Read more: https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/capitol-ideas/mc-nws-pa-congress-social-security-funding-wait-times-susan-wild-20190620-jbhnwf5avjaepfsgb443vrq6ge-story.html