SSA delays work hardship on disability applicants

Disabled by an enlarged heart and unable to work, welder David Olson, 54, waited almost two years to be approved for Social Security disability payments. In July, he was found dead in his recliner at his Montana home.  Gerald Keyes, a 59-year-old former City of Milwaukee garbage collector, sits in his living room behind his line of prescription drugs last week. Keyes has been waiting for over a year for his Social Security benefits to kick in.  His sister, Nancy Olson, 53, of Milwaukee, fears help might come too late for her, as well. She is on continuous oxygen because of a rare lung disease caused by inhaling microscopic spores of a fungus.  Olson is part of a nationwide backlog of more than 749,000 seriously ill people who say they are unable to work and are awaiting a decision on disability payments. She’s been waiting almost two years.  Workers who have paid Social Security taxes but are unable to work until retirement are eligible for subsidized health insurance and a stipend that averages about $979 a month.  “I have nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Olson, a former school photographer, who is living in a friend’s home. “I paid into the system since I was 16 years old. I am in dire straits. It hurts now when I need help and there is no response.”  Her brother was approved for benefits just before he died. He “never even got a check,” she said.  The situation is acute in Milwaukee and getting worse. Last month, 10,956 people were waiting for a hearing to determine whether they qualify for the benefit. That’s up about 19% since September 2005 and a historic high, according to records obtained by the Journal Sentinel.  The average wait is 651 days

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