Many claimants and their attorneys experience difficulties and frustration when dealing with the Social Security Administration. To understand why it is so problematic to deal with the SSA, it is important to recognize that the agency is a large bureaucracy. The SSA employs over 57,000 people, including 14,000 state agency employees, 1,300 administrative law judges and 34 administrative appeals judges. Organizations of this size often struggle with inefficiency, lack of information and excessive complexity.
In addition to its large size, the agency’s programs are complicated. The two disability programs, SSI and Social Security disability, are the most complex of all programs handled by the SSA. What all this complexity means for claimants and their Florida disability attorneys is that it can be difficult to find the correct person to contact about a specific problem. In addition, individuals within the agency often have outdated or incorrect information. This means that even if a claimant reaches the correct person, the information he or she receives might be wrong. For instance, a test of the SSA’s toll-free number revealed that 25 percent of the answers to questions regarding SSI were wrong.
One way that the SSA tries to deal with complicated decisions such as a disability determination is to turn the task over to state agencies. However, this does not work well in disability cases because they are complicated in nature and state agencies are not set up to deal with them. The decisions made at the state level are often inadequate and may require further appeal, says a Florida disability attorney. In spite of the complications and difficulties, many people who work within the SSA system seem to be unaware of the many shortcomings of the system. In many cases, a claimant will need to appear before an administrative law judge to receive a fair assessment and decision.
A lawyer with a background in Social Security disability cases may help a claimant navigate the confusing and complicated bureaucracy of the SSA. To set up a confidential appointment with a Florida disability law firm, please call the office of CJ Henry Law Firm, PLLC at 352.304.5300.
