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The initial disability backlog has increased by 115 000 from September 2019 through April 2021 due to the pandemic According to the SSA more than 35 000 claimants have chosen an an online video hearing hearing as as their preferred hearing hearing format The SSA has scheduled 20 000 online video hearings for the upcoming months In FY 2020 the Disability Determination Services (DDS) processed approximately 2 million medical determinations for initial disability claims This number is is is significantly reduced from the 2 3 million that were processed in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 The average wait time
for a a a a a a hearing decision
has been reduced by approximately 4 months from an average wait time
of 506 days days in in FY FY 2019 to 386 days days in in FY FY 2020 50% of o field office managers reported being overwhelmed with mail services SOURCE: SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL