SSA recently released “Initial and Reconsideration Processing Times Data” as of February 24, 2023. According to the data, the National Average processing time at the Initial level is 211 days, while the National Average processing time for Reconsideration is 210.1 days. The current averages are particularly abysmal in Florida and South Carolina where the wait time is over 300 days at both levels.

 On average, this represents a 35 percent increase in the processing times since 2021 when the national average processing times were 156 days for initial claims and 158 days for reconsideration claims. 

 These ever-increasing wait times are inexcusable and represent very real hardships for our members and the claimants they represent. NOSSCR continues to advocate for commonsense reforms within SSA that would allow for faster more accurate processing of claims at the initial levels.

 You can view the full report here — and numbers from 2021 can be found here.

Numbers prior to 2021 can be found here.

NOSSCR Interim CEO David Camp recently testified about the impact of long processing times before the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee. Learn more here.