1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

As the need for Social Security has increased, the staffing and funding has decreased. Staffing is now the lowest in the past 25 years Funding as a percent of benefit outlays has declined from 1.26% to 0.86%. Social Security spends only 1.2% in administrative expenses—far better than the 19-24% for private insurers. Wait times for help are very poor—38” for an initial phone call to the 1-800 number, but 228 days for an initial disability decision. The wait time for a hearing decision is a full year! 30,000 people died last year while waiting for an initial decision. Please—you must increase the budget and focus on improving Social Services! Thank you.