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Alaska to Open First SSA Disability Hearing Office

Social Security disability benefits may take more than 1 year to begin, and many  applicants will not be approved the first time they apply. To compound the issue, it seems that Social Security Administration (SSA) offices frequently have to furlough employees, thereby increasing the wait times. Fortunately, some regions are seeing an increase in the number of SSA offices available to process claims.

According to KTUU, Alaska will be getting its first disability hearing office, where those who have been previously denied disability benefits can request a hearing to fight the initial decision. The hearing office will be located in Anchorage.

Appeals had previously been handled a few days each month, with administrative law judges arriving via plane from Washington. This limited the number of applicants who were able to successfully appeal their original unfavorable decision. Wait times for a hearing typically reached 2 years, especially when inclement weather delayed or cancelled flights.

The new office will have 2 SSA judges, who will be able to see about 8 to 10 people each day. The office will also use teleconferencing to allow those in Fairbanks to appeal their cases. These changes should go a long way to reducing the wait times for disability applicants living in Alaska.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida disability lawyers, LaVan & Neidenberg, represent over 5000 disability claimants. Our disability attorneys have experience with cross examining agency-appointed medical and vocational experts and take time when speaking with you about your disability claim. Call us today at 1-888-234-5758 for a FREE legal consultation. There is NO OBLIGATION to hire our firm and there are NO FEES unless one of our trained disability lawyers wins your case.