Financial Humanity for the Sick and Disabled
The Issue
A Call for Timely, Compassionate, and Account
The Issue
We, the undersigned, respectfully call upon the Social Security Administration (SSA) to strengthen its efforts to ensure that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications are reviewed as efficiently and fairly as possible.
For individuals who are unable to work because of serious illness or disability, the disability application process is not simply an administrative matter. It can determine whether a person can afford housing, food, utilities, transportation, and medical care while they are unable to earn an income.
The uncertainty created by prolonged processing times can place an enormous financial and emotional burden on applicants and their families—people who are already facing some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives.
The Human Cost of Waiting
When a person becomes too ill or disabled to work, their ability to support themselves can disappear almost overnight. Yet their financial responsibilities do not disappear with their ability to work.
Rent and mortgages remain due.
Utility bills continue to arrive.
Medical expenses continue to accumulate.
Families still need food and basic necessities.
For many applicants, savings are limited or nonexistent. Some may depend on family members, borrow money, exhaust their resources, or accumulate significant debt while waiting for a determination.
The longer the process takes, the greater that burden can become.
The SSA has acknowledged the significant workload involved in processing disability claims. Its FY2026 budget materials projected approximately 1 million initial disability claims, 372,000 reconsideration, and 347,000 hearings pending, with an average projected processing time of approximately 220 days for an initial disability decision.
These figures represent more than a government workload.
Behind every pending claim is a person.
It may be a parent trying to provide for their children.
A spouse struggling to keep a household financially stable.
A young adult whose illness has prevented them from beginning their career.
A worker who spent decades contributing to the system and is now unable to work.
Or someone fighting a serious illness who simply needs the opportunity to focus on getting through each day.
We Recognize the Need for Accuracy
We recognize that disability determinations are complex and that the SSA has a responsibility to carefully evaluate medical evidence and protect the integrity of these programs.
Faster decisions should never mean careless decisions.
Applicants deserve decisions that are both accurate and timely.
However, an accurate process can also be an efficient and compassionate one. Individuals with severe medical conditions should not be left in prolonged uncertainty when they have no ability to work and few resources to rely upon.
What We Are Asking For
We respectfully ask the Social Security Administration and policymakers to:
1. Continue making the reduction of disability claim backlogs a meaningful priority.
2. Provide sufficient staffing, funding, technology, and administrative resources to process claims as efficiently as possible while maintaining accuracy and fairness.
3. Strengthen and expand appropriate expedited procedures for individuals facing particularly severe medical and financial circumstances.
4. Improve communication with applicants regarding the status of their claims and the anticipated next steps in the process.
5. Continue identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary delays throughout the initial application and appeals processes.
6. Maintain a system that treats applicants with dignity, compassion, consistency, and respect.
This Is About More Than Numbers
For those who have never experienced serious illness or disability, it can be difficult to understand what it means to lose the ability to work while waiting for financial assistance.
For those who have experienced it, the reality is unmistakable.
Illness does not put bills on hold.
A diagnosis does not stop the rent or mortgage.
Disability does not stop the electric bill.
Treatment does not eliminate the cost of food or transportation.
And waiting for a decision does not make those financial responsibilities disappear.
The people applying for SSI or SSDI are often already facing extraordinary challenges. They should not have to spend what little energy they have left worrying about whether they will be able to keep a roof over their heads or afford their basic necessities.
A Call for Financial Humanity
This petition is not about asking for shortcuts or asking the SSA to compromise the integrity of the disability system.
It is about asking for balance.
It is about recognizing that behind every application is a human being whose life may have been fundamentally changed by illness or disability.
It is about ensuring that a person who has lost the ability to work is not also forced to lose their financial security, their housing, or their dignity simply because they are waiting for a decision.
We believe Americans living with serious illness and disability deserve a system that is accurate, accountable, efficient—and humane.
We respectfully ask the Social Security Administration and our elected representatives to recognize the urgency of this issue and continue working toward meaningful reductions in disability processing delays.
Please Add Your Voice
If you believe that seriously ill and disabled Americans deserve timely consideration of their disability claims, please sign this petition.
If you have experienced the disability application process yourself, your voice matters.
If you have watched a family member, friend, or loved one struggle while waiting for a decision, your voice matters.
And if you simply believe that people facing serious illness deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion, your voice matters too.
Please sign. Please share. Please help us bring greater attention to the human cost of disability claim delays.
Because behind every claim number is a person.
And every person deserves to be seen, heard, and treated with humanity.
Jessica Burch
Meriden, CT
80
The Issue
A Call for Timely, Compassionate, and Account
The Issue
We, the undersigned, respectfully call upon the Social Security Administration (SSA) to strengthen its efforts to ensure that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applications are reviewed as efficiently and fairly as possible.
For individuals who are unable to work because of serious illness or disability, the disability application process is not simply an administrative matter. It can determine whether a person can afford housing, food, utilities, transportation, and medical care while they are unable to earn an income.
The uncertainty created by prolonged processing times can place an enormous financial and emotional burden on applicants and their families—people who are already facing some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives.
The Human Cost of Waiting
When a person becomes too ill or disabled to work, their ability to support themselves can disappear almost overnight. Yet their financial responsibilities do not disappear with their ability to work.
Rent and mortgages remain due.
Utility bills continue to arrive.
Medical expenses continue to accumulate.
Families still need food and basic necessities.
For many applicants, savings are limited or nonexistent. Some may depend on family members, borrow money, exhaust their resources, or accumulate significant debt while waiting for a determination.
The longer the process takes, the greater that burden can become.
The SSA has acknowledged the significant workload involved in processing disability claims. Its FY2026 budget materials projected approximately 1 million initial disability claims, 372,000 reconsideration, and 347,000 hearings pending, with an average projected processing time of approximately 220 days for an initial disability decision.
These figures represent more than a government workload.
Behind every pending claim is a person.
It may be a parent trying to provide for their children.
A spouse struggling to keep a household financially stable.
A young adult whose illness has prevented them from beginning their career.
A worker who spent decades contributing to the system and is now unable to work.
Or someone fighting a serious illness who simply needs the opportunity to focus on getting through each day.
We Recognize the Need for Accuracy
We recognize that disability determinations are complex and that the SSA has a responsibility to carefully evaluate medical evidence and protect the integrity of these programs.
Faster decisions should never mean careless decisions.
Applicants deserve decisions that are both accurate and timely.
However, an accurate process can also be an efficient and compassionate one. Individuals with severe medical conditions should not be left in prolonged uncertainty when they have no ability to work and few resources to rely upon.
What We Are Asking For
We respectfully ask the Social Security Administration and policymakers to:
1. Continue making the reduction of disability claim backlogs a meaningful priority.
2. Provide sufficient staffing, funding, technology, and administrative resources to process claims as efficiently as possible while maintaining accuracy and fairness.
3. Strengthen and expand appropriate expedited procedures for individuals facing particularly severe medical and financial circumstances.
4. Improve communication with applicants regarding the status of their claims and the anticipated next steps in the process.
5. Continue identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary delays throughout the initial application and appeals processes.
6. Maintain a system that treats applicants with dignity, compassion, consistency, and respect.
This Is About More Than Numbers
For those who have never experienced serious illness or disability, it can be difficult to understand what it means to lose the ability to work while waiting for financial assistance.
For those who have experienced it, the reality is unmistakable.
Illness does not put bills on hold.
A diagnosis does not stop the rent or mortgage.
Disability does not stop the electric bill.
Treatment does not eliminate the cost of food or transportation.
And waiting for a decision does not make those financial responsibilities disappear.
The people applying for SSI or SSDI are often already facing extraordinary challenges. They should not have to spend what little energy they have left worrying about whether they will be able to keep a roof over their heads or afford their basic necessities.
A Call for Financial Humanity
This petition is not about asking for shortcuts or asking the SSA to compromise the integrity of the disability system.
It is about asking for balance.
It is about recognizing that behind every application is a human being whose life may have been fundamentally changed by illness or disability.
It is about ensuring that a person who has lost the ability to work is not also forced to lose their financial security, their housing, or their dignity simply because they are waiting for a decision.
We believe Americans living with serious illness and disability deserve a system that is accurate, accountable, efficient—and humane.
We respectfully ask the Social Security Administration and our elected representatives to recognize the urgency of this issue and continue working toward meaningful reductions in disability processing delays.
Please Add Your Voice
If you believe that seriously ill and disabled Americans deserve timely consideration of their disability claims, please sign this petition.
If you have experienced the disability application process yourself, your voice matters.
If you have watched a family member, friend, or loved one struggle while waiting for a decision, your voice matters.
And if you simply believe that people facing serious illness deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion, your voice matters too.
Please sign. Please share. Please help us bring greater attention to the human cost of disability claim delays.
Because behind every claim number is a person.
And every person deserves to be seen, heard, and treated with humanity.
Jessica Burch
Meriden, CT
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on July 6, 2023