Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue Testimony to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

March 9, 2011 Commissioner Astrue's testimony covered all aspects of Social Security Administration (SSA) performance over the past few years, including SSA's progress at reducing a backlog in decisions on disability applications. Mr. Astrue said that in fiscal year 2010, SSA completed 3.2 million initial disability claims and reduced the average wait time for a hearing decision to one year, down from nearly 18 months in August 2008. SSA has focused its efforts on resolving disability claims with the longest wait times, which as of 2007 included claimants who had been waiting for a decision for as . . .