The hearing backlog for SSDI claimants continues to grow, though the pace appears to be slowing. The national average wait time increased to 518 days during the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, which is 13 days higher than 505 days in the first quarter. The Social Security Administration ended FY 2015 with a hearing level processing time of 480 days, which was a nearly 14 percent increase from 422 days in FY 2014.
Total nationwide pending hearing level claims reached 1,114,079 during the second quarter of FY 2016, which is a 1 percent increase from 1,099,404 claims in the first quarter. The SSA ended FY 2015 with a hearing backlog of 1,060,907 claims.
