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How Long Does It Take to Get Disability In Ohio?

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After the Wait for Social Security Disability, You Can Rest Easier

When you’re trying to get Social Security Disability benefits, there’s not much you can do to avoid a long wait.

Every case is different, but it can easily take a year or longer to get from initial application for Social Security Disability to receiving benefits.

You need this income when you can’t work because of health problems, so the waiting is miserable. Get an ally in your effort to win life-changing benefits.

The Ohio Social Security Disability lawyers at Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal (HNB) are here for you. We have a few things we want you to know while waiting for disability benefits:

  • You do get back benefits in the end. The long wait isn’t for nothing. When you’re approved for benefits, Social Security will award back pay covering time that you were eligible for benefits while waiting. It can be a significant and very helpful amount.
  • You may be able to find other help in the meantime. Look into other benefits programs that you may be eligible for, help from non-profit groups, programs that assist with expenses like utilities and more. You can also work a small amount, but not too much, and still pursue benefits.
  • You can ensure that your disability claim is solid. If you make mistakes in your disability claim, that can delay things more. But you can avoid mistakes. If you make sure everything on your end is ready to go, Social Security can approve you as soon as they reach that point.

For the last point, it’s particularly helpful if you have an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer to build your claim.

The disability lawyers at HNB take care of the legwork so you get the best chance of winning benefits. You pay no attorney fee until you win.

HNB has helped thousands of Ohioans for over 40 years in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and statewide.

“Helping me, that’s HNB!”

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    How Long Does It Take To Get Your Disability Approved In Ohio?

    Every step of getting Social Security Disability benefits comes with a wait.

    Let’s walk through the process:

    • Step 1—The Minimum Wait: First of all, every claim for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) comes with a built-in wait. Social Security says you will start getting benefits five months after the date they decide you officially couldn’t work anymore. Usually, it’s been much longer than five months by the time you’re approved for benefits, so you’ll already have credit for that time, and your benefits can start right away once you win.
    • Step 2—Getting an Answer to Your Application: When you file for disability benefits, Social Security’s been saying in recent years that it takes about six to eight months for you to get an answer on your application. In reality, your individual situation could be different. The Ohio disability lawyers at HNB sometimes see it taking longer to get an initial response.
    • Step 3—Getting a Response to a Reconsideration: If your initial answer is a denial, you appeal the denial by asking Social Security to re-look at your case, called a “reconsideration.” Nationally it was taking about seven months to get a reconsideration decision in 2024. Ohio was a little faster at three to five months.
    • Step 4—Making it to a Disability Hearing: After the reconsideration step, you go to a hearing with a disability judge. Hearing offices have backlogs of cases, and so you wait again. In mid-2025, it was taking about eight months to get to a disability hearing in Ohio.
    • Step 5—Beyond Your Disability Hearing: If the judge doesn’t approve your disability benefits, you can continue appealing for a new decision with Social Security’s Appeals Council, and then in federal court. And as usual, these things take time. It can be a year or more at either step.

    So how does it add up?

    It can easily take close to two years through the stage of your hearing with a disability judge and another year or more if your case goes further than that.

    Many individual factors alter the outlook for you personally, including case backlogs at your local Social Security office, staffing shortages at your local office, and how complicated your claim for benefits is.

    To get a better idea what to expect for yourself, you need to talk over your specific situation with someone experienced in this process, like the Ohio Social Security Disability attorneys at HNB. You can talk to us for free.

    Get an individual HNB disability claim evaluation.

    READ TRANSCRIPT

    If reconsideration doesn’t go your way, your next step is to request a hearing in front of an administrative law judge (ALJ).

    • Average wait time to reach a disability hearing in Ohio: around 8 months as of May 2025.

    This depends on how busy your local hearing office is. (In May 2025, the Toledo office was averaging six months to get to a hearing, but the Dayton office was taking 10.)

    The national average for hearings is often over 12 months.

    The good news: this is where many people finally win their benefits. Percentages of approvals are much higher at the hearing level than on reconsideration.

    At HNB, our Social Security Disability lawyers help you prepare a strong case for your hearing, gathering medical evidence, writing legal arguments, and making sure your story comes across strong and clear.

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    What Can You Do About the Social Security Disability Wait Time?

    You can’t control how long it takes Social Security to review your disability claim. Your disability lawyer can’t make them move any faster, either.

    You can, however, take steps to avoid extra delays and make the process go as smoothly as possible.

    Some of our top tips include:

    • Apply for benefits as soon as you know you can’t work, rather than waiting to see how you feel later.
    • Gather records of doctor visits, test results and any other medical documentation before you file your disability application.
    • Organize your information about your education, training and jobs.
    • Think about all the individual tasks your work required, even small things you might not think much about, and write those down.
    • Think about all the symptoms of your medical condition, and how they slow or stop your ability to do certain things, and write those down.
    • Fill out the disability application forms completely.
    • Double-check your information to make sure it’s right.
    • If Social Security asks you to fill out another form, do it right away.
    • If Social Security asks you to attend a special medical exam, arrange it quickly.
    • If you apply and get a denial of benefits, file your appeal quickly. You generally have 60 days from your denial letter to start an appeal.

    An important way to deal with this difficult system and avoid more holdups is to work with a skilled Social Security Disability attorney.

    People don’t always know what medical records they need. They don’t always know how to answer certain questions from Social Security. You can’t be expected to know how best to present a disability claim to Social Security because you don’t do this every day.

    The lawyers at Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal do.

    When you’ve got us with you, we’ll be your guide in this complicated project. We’ll be your friend when you’re up against an unfriendly bureaucracy. We’ll make sure your claim has what it needs to keep moving. We’ll keep you in the loop about what’s going on with your case.

    Your disability lawyer is there to help you win benefits, but also to make the process easier and less stressful for you.

    To pursue disability benefits as painlessly as possible, contact our Ohio disability lawyers now.

    Our attorneys make the process of applying for Social Security Disability benefits as easy as possible for you.