The local Social Security Office of Charlotte, North Carolina is making steps to improve their response time after a man died almost a month before being accepted for disability benefits.

A lifelong resident of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina, the man applied for Social Security disability benefits after complications from AIDS rendered him too sick to work.  According to relatives, he was in a state of financial panic the last few months of his life, struggling to afford groceries and his Charlotte apartment.  He is at least the third person in the Charlotte area to die while waiting on assistance since 2006. 

Officials stated that the office took at least two months longer than it should have to settle his claim for disability benefits, saying they needed time to obtain more of his medical information.  The Social Security Administration has apologized to the his family for the delay in his approval, and his mother will be receiving his due benefits.

Social Security officials have acknowledged that the system for application processing is flawed, and they blame a rising number of claims as well as staffing shortages.  According to the commissioner, there were 750,000 pending cases in 2008, double the number from 2001.  In response to the problem, officials hired 190 new administrative law judges in 2008, and they have expedited applications with a high likelihood of approval.  According to a U.S. Representative, the changes have had a positive influence, with the number of cases closed monthly around Charlotte, North Carolina almost doubling.

Source: "Social Security offers apology to loved ones," CharlotteObserver.com, March 7, 2009.