Maria Chen waited 243 days to learn whether she would receive Social Security disability benefits. During those eight months, the 54-year-old former accountant from Ohio exhausted her savings, moved in with her sister, and watched her credit score plummet as medical bills went unpaid. Her story isn't unusual—it's become the norm.

The Social Security Administration is in turmoil. According to a recent Washington Post investigation, the agency faces approximately 6 million pending cases and 12 million transactions causing delays for roughly 74 million Americans who depend on Social Security services. For disability applicants specifically, the average wait for an initial determination has stretched beyond seven months—more than double the 3.7-month average in 2017.

The Scale of the Crisis

As of July 2025, approximately 940,000 Americans were waiting for an initial determination on their disability claims. While that number has declined from an all-time high of 1.26 million in May 2024, it still represents a massive backlog that leaves vulnerable Americans in limbo.

The numbers grow even more troubling when you consider the full scope of delayed services. Phone calls to the SSA averaged 2.5-hour hold times at peak periods in 2025. Field office visits often require weeks-long waits for appointments. Many disability claimants now face three to six months of delays before receiving their first payment, even after approval.

"These aren't just bureaucratic statistics," explained one disability rights advocate. "Each case represents a person who can't work due to illness or injury, often facing mounting medical bills and the threat of losing their home."

What Caused the Backlog

The SSA's challenges stem from a perfect storm of underfunding, pandemic disruptions, and recent workforce reductions. The agency's budget has failed to keep pace with its growing responsibilities, leading to hiring freezes and office closures.

The situation worsened dramatically in early 2025, when approximately 7,000 employees were cut in a cost-reduction initiative. With 93 million calls coming in annually, the reduced workforce—many reassigned from other duties with minimal training—couldn't keep up with demand.

Staffing isn't the only issue. The agency's technology infrastructure relies heavily on systems built in the 1980s, making modernization efforts slow and expensive. While SSA has made progress expanding online services, many disability determinations require in-person medical evaluations and document reviews that can't be fully automated.

The Human Cost

For disability applicants, the consequences of these delays are often catastrophic. Studies show that many applicants exhaust their savings while waiting, with some losing homes or falling into bankruptcy. Health outcomes suffer when people delay medical care due to uncertainty about coverage and income.

The denial rate has also increased, which some advocates attribute to stressed and undertrained staff. When initial claims are denied, applicants face additional months or years of appeals, extending their time in limbo.

SSA's Response

The agency isn't standing still. According to its FY 2026 budget proposal, SSA plans to reduce the average wait time for an initial disability determination to 190 days by the fourth quarter of the fiscal year—still more than six months, but an improvement from current levels exceeding 230 days.

Officials have announced intentions to complete over 2.3 million initial disability decisions in fiscal 2025, and the agency claims to have reduced its claims backlog for 49 consecutive weeks. However, the wait times remain far above historical norms.

What Disability Applicants Should Know

For those navigating the disability system in 2026, experts recommend several strategies:

  • Apply as early as possible: Given wait times, delaying an application only extends your time without benefits
  • Gather comprehensive medical documentation: Claims with thorough medical records are processed more quickly and approved more often
  • Consider professional help: Disability attorneys and advocates can improve approval odds, though they take a portion of backpay
  • Use online services when available: Creating a my Social Security account allows you to track your application status and complete some tasks online
  • Prepare for financial bridge: Given wait times, applicants should explore all available resources, including state disability programs, SNAP benefits, and Medicaid

The 2026 Benefit Increase

For current disability recipients, there's some good news: the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that took effect in January 2026 has increased the average disabled worker's benefit from $1,586 to $1,630 monthly—a modest but meaningful increase of $44 per month that helps offset continued inflation in healthcare and housing costs.

The SSA crisis reflects broader challenges facing government services in an era of tight budgets and growing demands. For the millions of Americans who depend on these programs, the stakes couldn't be higher.