INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana residents unable to work because of medical or psychiatric ills are forced to wait far longer than most Americans for disability payments, putting them at greater risk of losing their cars or homes.

Indiana has one of the nation’s worst records for processing disability claims that on average provide recipients with $1,000 a month in financial assistance, The Indianapolis Star reported in Sunday’s editions.

The state’s applicants for Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income wait an average of 749 days between filing for disability until they get a hearing before an administrative judge.

The Social Security Administration estimates most Americans wait 505 days for a hearing.

Without a job or any source of income while they wait, some applicants lose their homes and cars. Others must live with relatives or friends or in shelters, while some go on welfare.

Dana Smith of Indianapolis waited three years for a judge to agree that she qualifies for Social Security disability payments.

“I was very appalled at how long it took,” said Smith, who watched with envy as a friend in Tennessee completed the process in a year. “I kept thinking: any time now, any time now.”

Data compiled by Allsup Co., a disability claims service, show the average applicant for disability at the Indianapolis offices in February waited 816 days, the longest waiting period in the nation.

“We need more judges, more staff. We need a more efficient staff,” said Steven Jacobs, an attorney who has worked on such cases since 1974.

For the first time in a decade, the Social Security Administration this year received more rather than less funding. Congress allocated an additional $148 million to address the backlog, allowing the agency to hire 175 more judges and other staff nationwide.

Indiana hired one additional judge, bringing the total to 12.

Buoyed by the infusion of money and staff, the agency processed all cases nationwide older than 1,000 days.

Now it’s targeting the 135,000 cases across the country that are more than 900 days old, said Carmen Moreno, regional communications director for the Social Security Administration’s Chicago region, which includes Indiana.

Government officials blame the national backlog of disability claims on years of agency underfunding and understaffing combined with a growing number of applications from baby boomers.

A recent Government Accountability Office report also identified mismanagement as an issue.

Nationwide, the Social Security Administration has 10 percent fewer judges to hear case appeals than it did a decade ago, even as the number of cases has increased by more than 176 percent, said Moreno.

“We’re sympathetic over the fact that the waiting times are long, but keeping in mind that we are receiving so much less money than we need, these are the consequences,” Moreno said.

The government’s disability payment system requires a claimant to file an application. If it is turned down, the claimant must file a second application. If that application is turned down, the person can ask an administrative law judge to decide if the applicant will receive benefits.

Only about one-third of initial applications are approved. Even fewer applications — less than 15 percent — are approved during reconsideration.

More than half who go before an administrative law judge receive the benefit, according to Allsup’s statistics.

Posted 7/7/2008