New Hampshire Social Security Disability

Manchester Hearing Office Processing Time

The latest statistics for average processing time have been released by the SSA. The Manchester, NH Social Security hearing office has an average wait time of 416 days, or about 14 months, for a decision.

Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The 416 days is an average. Some claims are resolved more quickly, but a claim that goes to hearing and a written decision may take longer.

It is difficult to wait for your hearing. However, the waiting time can be used to make your claim stronger, by developing new medical evidence of your functional limitations.

Updated ALJ Disposition Statistics

Social Security has updated the ALJ disposition data for fiscal year 2010 on its website. These statistics show how many disability claims each judge has decided, and how many of those claims were granted and how many were denied. The data now runs through April 30, 2010. So you get a better picture of each judge's recent record.

This database is the only set of statistics that include the four new judges in New Hampshire.

Take these statistics with a grain of salt. You can still win your disability claim with a judge who denies a lot of cases, and you can still lose with a judge who grants a lot of cases. The most important factors in the decision are the merits of your claim and the medical evidence demonstrating disability.

New Judges for New Hampshire

There are four new administrative law judges at the Manchester, New Hampshire hearing office. This brings the total number of judges in Manchester to eight.

The new judges are:

• Debra Boudreau
• Paul Martin
• Thomas Merrill
• Dory Sutker 

The Manchester judges hear and decide claims for those in New Hampshire or Vermont. 

Latest Statistics for Manchester Hearing Office

The latest average processing time for the Manchester, New Hampshire hearing office is 447 days, just shy of 15 months. Processing time runs from the date of your hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The 447 days is an average. Some claims are resolved more quickly, but a claim that requires a hearing and a written decision may take longer.

Through January 2010, the Manchester ODAR conducted 915 hearings in fiscal year 2010, 404 of those hearings were in person hearings, and 511 of them were video hearings.

The Manchester hearing office handles all the hearings for Vermont Social Security claimants, and often these these hearings are held by video conference from Burlington or St. Johnsbury, VT. Likewise, the hearings for residents of northern New Hampshire are usually held by videoconference from St. Johnsbury. So the number of video hearings seems about right to me. 

Manchester Hearing Office Average Processing TIme

The latest statistics for average processing time have been released by the SSA. The Manchester, NH Social Security hearing office has a wait time of 412 days, or about 14 months, for a decision.

Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued. The 412 days is an average. Some claims are resolved more quickly. A claim that goes to hearing and a written decision may take longer.

While the average wait for a hearing decision in New Hampshire is 86 days longer than in Maine, New Hampshire is a prototype state that skips the intermediate Reconsideration step of the Social Security disability process. Since 4-5 months are not being lost in New Hampshire waiting for a Reconsideration determination, claims are actually moving from the initial denial to hearing more quickly than in Maine or Vermont.

Manchester Hearing Office Workload Data

The Social Security Administration just published current statistics regarding the workload of the hearing offices around the country, including the Manchester, NH hearing office. 

The Workload Data Report shows the Manchester ODAR received 848 appealed claims, disposed of 853 claims, and has 4,316 pending claims as of December 2009. That is a lot of pending claims. The current average processsing time is 407 days.

The NETSTAT report shows "the average time (in months) from the hearing request date until a hearing is held for claims pending in the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review's hearing offices. Allows users to estimate the amount of time they may have to wait for a hearing to be held." A claimant should expect to wait 15 months for a hearing in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Average Processing Time is 349 Days at Manchester ODAR

The latest national ranking report for the Social Security hearing offices has been released.  As of 7/31, the Manchester Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) has an average processing time of 349 days. That performance ranks #13 out of the 140+ ODARs in the country.

Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued.

Directions to the Manchester Hearing Office

The SSA's website has a good set of directions to the Manchester, NH hearing office at 1750 Elm Street.

Average Processing Time in Manchester Continues to Improve

The latest national ranking report for the Social Security hearing offices has been released. The Manchester Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) has an average processing time of 343 days (it was 388 days last month, and 401 days the month before).

Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued.

That performance ranks #15 out of the 140+ ODARs in the country, which is an improvement from its #30 rank last month. This performance reflects remarkable progress.

The performance is even more impressive given that the hearing office is currently operating with just four administrative law judges, and that the Manchester hearing office handles Social Security disability hearings and appeals for residents of both New Hampshire and Vermont.

New Hampshire SSI Statistics

The Social Security Administration has released the latest national statistics regarding SSI payments. They are available by county for each state. The New Hampshire SSi statistics show that New Hamsphire's 10 counties had a total of 15,849 SSI recipients as of December 2008. Take a look at the stats to see the county by county breakdown. The most populous county of Hillsborough, home to Manchester and Nashua, had the most SSI recipients.

The full list of SSI recipients by state and county is also available.