2025 Annual Report of the SSI Program

C. Historical Allowance Data

At the end of 2024, 84 percent of federally administered Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients were receiving benefits based on disability or blindness. Individuals can apply at a local Social Security office, over the telephone, or online in certain circumstances. We send claims requiring an evaluation of disability to the State disability determination services (DDS) for a disability decision.^{1 2} Claimants may appeal unfavorable initial DDS decisions. In general, the appeals process proceeds as follows^{3 4}:

•	The State DDS conducts the first level of appeal — the reconsideration appeal step.

•	Claimants denied at the reconsideration level can then request a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ).

•	If dissatisfied with the hearing decision, claimants can request a review by the Appeals Council.

•	Those dissatisfied with the Appeals Council’s action can seek further relief through the Federal court system.

This process of application and appeal can span several years. Only a longitudinal database of administrative records at all stages of appeal can provide a complete picture of the disability determination process. Each year, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Disability Policy constructs such a longitudinal database, the “Title XVI Disability Research File,” to assist our agency in understanding and managing this process. However, as there are inconsistencies in the data collected from all the respective levels of appeal, certain considerations are made during the build process. The following sections present some additional details and qualifications essential to a complete understanding of the resulting data. Following these technical notes, tables V.C1 and V.C2 present the latest available summary of results on disability determinations under Title XVI.

1. Technical Notes on the Disability Research File

Methods used to build the Title XVI Disability Research File — The “base” file for the Title XVI Disability Research File is the Supplemental Security Record, the main computerized file for administering the SSI program. We match the “base” file against records from various other administrative sources, including transactions from the disability determination (SSA-831) files, Structured Data Repository (SDR), Social Security number identification records and earnings data, and hearing and Appeals Council level data.

Creating the Title XVI Disability Research File is a cumbersome process; it involves about 200 steps and generally requires 2 to 4 months to complete. The process is complex because we assemble the file based on filing date cohorts, and many of the source files do not contain a filing date. The basic data sources provide information for the 3 most recent calendar year cohorts. Older calendar year cohorts reflect updated activity since the last time we built the file. Since the process is so time consuming, we update the research file only annually (usually beginning in July); research file data are not yet available for claims filed in 2024.

Methods used for estimating results (through January 2025) for claims filed in 2024 — Although decision counts are available for 2024 filers from many of the source files, those counts do not translate directly into the claims/appeals counts in the following tables because we consolidate multiple transactions and apply claims-based tolerance rules when we build the Title XVI Disability Research File.

To prepare preliminary estimates of results through January 2025 for 2024 filers, we started from the latest available transaction data, such as the SSA-831 data, and took into account recent years’ experience of the relationship between corresponding earlier transaction data and the resulting claims/appeals data in completed research files. We estimate hearing and Appeals Council appeals activity from a file that tracks individual claimants, rather than individual claims, which has resulted in a slight undercount of hearing and Appeals Council individual claims. Recent revocation of the agency’s subsequent application (i.e., an application filed while an earlier claim is pending at a review level) policy should largely eliminate the disparity between the number of claims and claimants.

While we believe that these methods are reasonable, we emphasize that the resulting estimates may not be completely reliable, especially because the estimates give results only through January 2025, whereas the final research files will reflect information through at least June 2025. Actual data for 2024 will replace these estimates in the 2026 Annual Report.

2. General Considerations

Some general points that apply to tables V.C1 and V.C2 are as follows:

•	Data for 2010-2023 filers are as of June 2024 for decisions at the DDS level. Results for those years’ filers include results at the hearing and Appeals Council levels and Federal courts through July 2024.

•

Data for 2024 filers are preliminary estimates as of January 2025, and reflect larger numbers of claims still pending. January 2025 data on number of appeals may be too low because larger numbers of claimants are still within the period allowed for filing an appeal (i.e., larger numbers of recently denied claimants who have not yet filed an appeal may appeal before the time limit runs out).

•	Remaining appeals will affect the results. Since we usually decide allowances more quickly than denials, we expect that the percent allowed will ultimately be lower when the processing of all cases is complete.

•

In certain pilot activities and under the revised process introduced October 1, 1999 in 10 States, individuals could appeal initial denials directly to the hearing level without a separate reconsideration step. As a result, the appeals of initial denials in these tables include cases that did not receive a decision at the reconsideration level.5

 

Table V.C1.—Disabled Adult Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI
Disability Benefits by Year of Filing^a and Level of Decision  

Calendar year of filingb		Total claims filed	Initial decisions
			Pending	Allowances		Denials		Appeals of initial denials
				Number	Percentc	Number	Percentc	Numberd	Percente
2010		1,881,418	—	450,337	23.9	1,431,081	76.1	611,117	42.7
2011		1,842,499	—	425,626	23.1	1,416,873	76.9	627,252	44.3
2012		1,794,616	—	414,620	23.1	1,379,996	76.9	614,999	44.6
2013		1,633,124	—	382,749	23.4	1,250,375	76.6	573,494	45.9
2014		1,496,914	—	355,295	23.7	1,141,619	76.3	521,724	45.7
2015		1,411,989	—	334,641	23.7	1,077,348	76.3	462,229	42.9
2016		1,324,374	—	322,519	24.4	1,001,855	75.6	424,532	42.4
2017		1,267,913	—	309,629	24.4	958,284	75.6	391,461	40.9
2018		1,197,402	—	293,779	24.5	903,623	75.5	371,693	41.1
2019		1,206,007	—	294,047	24.4	911,960	75.6	366,927	40.2
2020		1,034,035	—	236,510	22.9	797,525	77.1	315,094	39.5
2021		962,694	—	219,022	22.8	743,672	77.2	291,500	39.2
2022		949,835	—	215,302	22.7	734,533	77.3	291,832	39.7
2023		1,004,061	245,090	176,680	23.3	582,291	76.7	191,081	32.8
2024		1,017,944	419,345	197,911	33.1	400,688	66.9	92,602	23.1
Calendar year of filingb	Reconsiderations						Appeals beyond reconsiderationf
	Pending	Allowances		Denials	Appeals of  reconsideration denials			Allowances
		Number	Percentc		Numberg	Percent	Pendingh	Number	Percenti	Denialsj
2010	—	41,231	8.5	441,260	326,500	74.0	—	204,139	44.9	250,987
2011	—	42,102	8.5	451,375	340,922	75.5	—	195,644	41.2	279,053
2012	—	40,786	8.4	444,905	334,240	75.1	—	180,070	38.8	283,478
2013	—	37,169	8.2	415,114	318,483	76.7	—	165,298	37.6	274,396
2014	—	35,411	8.6	376,297	284,934	75.7	—	149,702	37.9	245,248
2015	—	34,105	9.4	330,081	244,255	74.0	—	127,719	37.3	214,579
2016	—	31,831	9.4	306,122	225,604	73.7	—	113,776	36.4	198,407
2017	—	29,221	9.2	287,008	210,064	73.2	1,941	101,717	35.9	181,638
2018	—	30,509	9.7	282,591	207,908	73.6	2,808	97,541	37.0	166,152
2019	—	36,688	10.4	316,403	228,894	72.3	3,816	91,147	38.2	147,767
2020	—	30,216	9.6	284,827	207,541	72.9	8,393	75,441	37.9	123,758
2021	—	29,721	10.2	261,779	180,320	68.9	34,060	57,004	39.0	89,256
2022	—	24,039	8.2	267,793	142,850	53.3	72,635	27,831	39.6	42,384
2023	93,265	8,305	8.5	89,511	50,171	56.1	41,118	2,281	25.2	6,772
2024	48,343	4,601	12.2	33,225	11,177	33.6	17,127	179	37.1	304
Calendar year of filingb			Selected summary case information by decision status: Numbers of cases
			Total claims filed	Initial decisions pending	Total initial decisions	Allowances	Denials
							Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
2010			1,881,418	—	1,881,418	695,707	—	1,185,711
2011			1,842,499	—	1,842,499	663,372	—	1,179,127
2012			1,794,616	—	1,794,616	635,476	—	1,159,140
2013			1,633,124	—	1,633,124	585,216	—	1,047,908
2014			1,496,914	—	1,496,914	540,408	—	956,506
2015			1,411,989	—	1,411,989	496,465	—	915,524
2016			1,324,374	—	1,324,374	468,126	—	856,248
2017			1,267,913	—	1,267,913	440,567	1,941	825,405
2018			1,197,402	—	1,197,402	421,829	2,808	772,765
2019			1,206,007	—	1,206,007	421,882	3,816	780,309
2020			1,034,035	—	1,034,035	342,167	8,393	683,475
2021			962,694	—	962,694	305,747	34,060	622,887
2022			949,835	—	949,835	267,172	72,635	610,028
2023			1,004,061	245,090	758,971	187,266	134,383	437,322
2024			1,017,944	419,345	598,599	202,691	65,470	330,438
Calendar year of filingb		Selected summary case information by decision status
		Numbers as a percentage of total claims filed				Numbers as a percentage of total initial decisions
		Initial decision pending	Allowances	Denials		Allowances	Denials
				Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending		Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
2010		—	37.0	—	63.0	37.0	—	63.0
2011		—	36.0	—	64.0	36.0	—	64.0
2012		—	35.4	—	64.6	35.4	—	64.6
2013		—	35.8	—	64.2	35.8	—	64.2
2014		—	36.1	—	63.9	36.1	—	63.9
2015		—	35.2	—	64.8	35.2	—	64.8
2016		—	35.3	—	64.7	35.3	—	64.7
2017		—	34.7	0.2	65.1	34.7	0.2	65.1
2018		—	35.2	.2	64.5	35.2	.2	64.5
2019		—	35.0	.3	64.7	35.0	.3	64.7
2020		—	33.1	.8	66.1	33.1	.8	66.1
2021		—	31.8	3.5	64.7	31.8	3.5	64.7
2022		—	28.1	7.6	64.2	28.1	7.6	64.2
2023		24.4	18.7	13.4	43.6	24.7	17.7	57.6
2024		41.2	19.9	6.4	32.5	33.9	10.9	55.2

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a

Data for claims filed in 2010‑2023 reflect results as of June 2024 at the DDS level and as of July 2024 at the hearing and Appeals Council levels. The numbers of total claims filed for 2021-2023 are subject to change. Data for claims filed in 2024 are preliminary estimates as of January 2025. The ultimate numbers of allowances and denials are subject to change until all initial decisions have been completed and all appeals are final.

b

For years prior to 2010, see the supplemental tables available at https://www.ssa.gov/oact/ssir/SSI25/index.html.

c

Percentage of decisions at this level.

d

Includes certain cases that can be appealed directly to the hearing level.

e

Percentage of denials at this level appealed to next level.

f

Includes cases appealed to the hearing and Appeals Council levels and cases appealed to the Federal courts.

g

Number of persons appealing beyond the reconsideration level.

h

Includes cases remanded to SSA from the Federal courts.

i

Percentage of decisions at this level. For years in which decisions are still pending, the preliminary percentage shown is expected to ultimately be lower as all cases are processed. This occurs because allowances are generally processed more quickly than denials.

j

Includes denied claims where the final administrative action was a dismissal of an appeal request (e.g., the appeal was not filed timely or the applicant failed to appear at the scheduled hearing).

 

Table V.C2.—Disabled Child Claims: Disposition of Applications for SSI
Disability Benefits by Year of Filing^a and Level of Decision  

Calendar year of filingb		Total claims filed	Initial decisions
			Pending	Allowances		Denials		Appeals of initial denials
				Number	Percentc	Number	Percentc	Numberd	Percente
2010		517,642	—	186,513	36.0	331,129	64.0	82,422	24.9
2011		505,692	—	179,592	35.5	326,100	64.5	82,879	25.4
2012		491,691	—	174,882	35.6	316,809	64.4	80,031	25.3
2013		444,226	—	158,730	35.7	285,496	64.3	69,496	24.3
2014		416,653	—	155,077	37.2	261,576	62.8	60,150	23.0
2015		417,877	—	159,188	38.1	258,689	61.9	54,285	21.0
2016		392,637	—	156,986	40.0	235,651	60.0	49,335	20.9
2017		375,229	—	153,817	41.0	221,412	59.0	46,913	21.2
2018		359,431	—	151,931	42.3	207,500	57.7	42,600	20.5
2019		350,195	—	152,870	43.7	197,325	56.3	37,142	18.8
2020		283,807	—	121,645	42.9	162,162	57.1	28,363	17.5
2021		265,930	—	115,086	43.3	150,844	56.7	27,300	18.1
2022		321,704	—	143,974	44.8	177,730	55.2	29,113	16.4
2023		360,739	86,494	129,084	47.1	145,161	52.9	18,320	12.6
2024		364,181	154,730	129,231	61.7	80,220	38.3	6,772	8.4
Calendar year of filingb	Reconsiderations						Appeals beyond reconsiderationf
	Pending	Allowances		Denials	Appeals of  reconsideration denials			Allowances
		Number	Percentc		Numberg	Percent	Pendingh	Number	Percenti	Denialsj
2010	—	7,548	11.6	57,616	26,094	45.3	—	12,107	27.9	31,245
2011	—	7,492	11.3	58,563	27,380	46.8	—	11,748	26.6	32,456
2012	—	7,036	11.0	56,822	26,098	45.9	—	10,553	25.0	31,718
2013	—	6,038	11.0	48,733	22,443	46.1	—	9,522	25.6	27,646
2014	—	5,633	11.9	41,846	18,055	43.1	—	8,267	26.9	22,459
2015	—	5,528	12.9	37,353	15,266	40.9	—	6,788	25.5	19,882
2016	—	5,247	13.2	34,400	13,476	39.2	—	6,116	26.4	17,048
2017	—	4,909	12.9	33,258	12,527	37.7	88	5,743	27.1	15,442
2018	—	5,084	14.1	31,003	11,437	36.9	124	5,196	29.1	12,630
2019	—	5,184	14.4	30,704	11,482	37.4	142	4,159	33.0	8,435
2020	—	4,102	14.5	24,257	8,823	36.4	283	2,879	33.7	5,665
2021	—	3,973	14.6	23,327	7,700	33.0	1,500	2,273	36.7	3,927
2022	—	4,226	14.5	24,887	6,841	27.5	3,548	1,272	38.6	2,021
2023	7,828	1,598	15.2	8,894	2,190	24.6	1,837	79	22.4	274
2024	2,973	820	23.4	2,687	446	16.6	720	6	33.3	12
Calendar year of filingb			Selected summary case information by decision status: Numbers of cases
			Total claims filed	Initial decisions pending	Total initial decisions	Allowances	Denials
							Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
2010			517,642	—	517,642	206,168	—	311,474
2011			505,692	—	505,692	198,832	—	306,860
2012			491,691	—	491,691	192,471	—	299,220
2013			444,226	—	444,226	174,290	—	269,936
2014			416,653	—	416,653	168,977	—	247,676
2015			417,877	—	417,877	171,504	—	246,373
2016			392,637	—	392,637	168,349	—	224,288
2017			375,229	—	375,229	164,469	88	210,672
2018			359,431	—	359,431	162,211	124	197,096
2019			350,195	—	350,195	162,213	142	187,840
2020			283,807	—	283,807	128,626	283	154,898
2021			265,930	—	265,930	121,332	1,500	143,098
2022			321,704	—	321,704	149,472	3,548	168,684
2023			360,739	86,494	274,245	130,761	9,665	133,819
2024			364,181	154,730	209,451	130,057	3,693	75,701
Calendar year of filingb		Selected summary case information by decision status
		Numbers as a percentage of total claims filed				Numbers as a percentage of total initial decisions
		Initial decision pending	Allowances	Denials		Allowances	Denials
				Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending		Appeal decision pending	No appeal pending
2010		—	39.8	—	60.2	39.8	—	60.2
2011		—	39.3	—	60.7	39.3	—	60.7
2012		—	39.1	—	60.9	39.1	—	60.9
2013		—	39.2	—	60.8	39.2	—	60.8
2014		—	40.6	—	59.4	40.6	—	59.4
2015		—	41.0	—	59.0	41.0	—	59.0
2016		—	42.9	—	57.1	42.9	—	57.1
2017		—	43.8	k	56.1	43.8	k	56.1
2018		—	45.1	k	54.8	45.1	k	54.8
2019		—	46.3	k	53.6	46.3	k	53.6
2020		—	45.3	0.1	54.6	45.3	0.1	54.6
2021		—	45.6	.6	53.8	45.6	.6	53.8
2022		—	46.5	1.1	52.4	46.5	1.1	52.4
2023		24.0	36.2	2.7	37.1	47.7	3.5	48.8
2024		42.5	35.7	1.0	20.8	62.1	1.8	36.1

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a

Data for claims filed in 2010‑2023 reflect results as of June 2024 at the DDS level and as of July 2024 at the hearing and Appeals Council levels. The numbers of total claims filed for 2021-2023 are subject to change. Data for claims filed in 2024 are preliminary estimates as of January 2025. The ultimate numbers of allowances and denials are subject to change until all initial decisions have been completed and all appeals are final.

b

For years prior to 2010, see the supplemental tables available at https://www.ssa.gov/oact/ssir/SSI25/index.html.

c

Percentage of decisions at this level.

d

Includes certain cases that can be appealed directly to the hearing level.

e

Percentage of denials at this level appealed to next level.

f

Includes cases appealed to the hearing and Appeals Council levels and cases appealed to the Federal courts.

g

Number of persons appealing beyond the reconsideration level.

h

Includes cases remanded to SSA from the Federal courts.

i

Percentage of decisions at this level. For years in which decisions are still pending, the preliminary percentage shown is expected to ultimately be lower as all cases are processed. This occurs because allowances are generally processed more quickly than denials.

j

Includes denied claims where the final administrative action was a dismissal of an appeal request (e.g., the appeal was not filed timely or the applicant failed to appear at the scheduled hearing).

k

Less than 0.05 percent.

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1

A relatively small number of cases are sent for evaluation to Extended Service Team, Flexible Disability Unit, and Disability Processing Branch sites. All references to “State DDS” include these sites as well.

2

This section uses the term “decision” in a general sense, although SSA usually refers to DDS findings as “determinations” and administrative law judge findings as “decisions.”

3

SSA implemented the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process in the Boston Region in August 2006 (for the SSI program and disability claims filed under the Social Security program). The DSI process eliminated reconsideration as the first level of appeal of an initial disability determination and introduced review by the Office of the Federal Reviewing Official (OFedRO) in its place. By final rule published in the Federal Register (73 FR 2411), SSA suspended new claims to the OFedRO level; this change was effective March 23, 2008 (correction to 73 FR 2411 in 73 FR 10381). For those initial disability appeals that had not been transferred to OFedRO on or before the effective date, the procedure for the first level of appeal reverted to that which was in place prior to August 2006 (i.e., reconsideration or to an ALJ for a hearing, whichever was applicable in that particular New England State at that time). The DSI regulations also modified administrative appeal of an ALJ’s decision or dismissal by: (1) setting requirements on the timeliness for submission of evidence for consideration by the ALJ; and (2) replacing the Appeals Council with the Decision Review Board. By final rule (76 FR 24802), we restored the Appeals Council, although the other modifications concerning when evidence could be submitted remained in effect in the Boston Region and were later expanded to all other regions.

4

Beginning in the mid-1990s, SSA conducted pilots testing revisions to this process and introduced a modification of this process that 10 States used for applications filed on or after October 1, 1999. The revised process eliminated the reconsideration step, so the first level of appeal of an initial determination was a request for hearing before an ALJ. SSA began reinstating the reconsideration level of appeal in these States via a staged roll-out on January 1, 2019, and completed this process by March 2020.

5

SSA began reinstating the reconsideration level of appeal in these States via a staged roll-out on January 1, 2019, and completed this process by June 26, 2020.