What a New Report Reveals About Disability Benefits in 2025

Takeaways

• A recent report found that major staff cuts and a push for online-only services at the Social Security Administration made it much harder for people to apply for or keep their disability benefits in 2025.
• This has resulted in people losing housing, going without medical care, and facing long delays for essential benefits.

For the roughly 16 million Americans who depend on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a new report reveals a troubling reality: a system that was already difficult to navigate became, for many, nearly impossible.

In March, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) published a report detailing changes to the nation’s disability benefits system over the past year and highlighting the people most affected by those changes.

The researchers interviewed 52 benefits specialists at 32 organizations that assist people seeking SSDI and SSI benefits. These professionals work with the Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of vulnerable clients every day.

What Changed and Why

In 2025, the SSA underwent a series of administrative, staffing, and policy changes including:

• the largest-ever SSA staffing cut,
• the consolidation of 10 regional offices to four,
• a push to move customer service activities online,
• the expansion of automated and AI-based services, and
• frequently changing policies regarding overpayment withholding rates and access to walk-in services at field offices.

By November 2025, SSA had lost about 11 percent of its workforce, with staff reductions disproportionately affecting some field offices and rural areas. One paralegal in the Kansas City region said her local field office lost multiple employees to voluntary early retirement incentives and those employees weren’t replaced. The field office collectively lost around 120 years of experience.

Seven Troubling Themes

The researchers found that these SSA process and policy changes created significant barriers for people applying for and attempting to maintain disability benefits. The changes also hampered the efforts of specialists who help them.

The report highlights seven interconnected themes that describe how accessing disability benefits changed in 2025.

Long-Standing Problems Worsened in 2025

Respondents who had worked in the disability benefits field for years consistently said the challenges they faced in 2025 felt new and unprecedented — not simply a continuation of historical problems. One respondent expressed, “It’s always been bad … it has, I think, gotten worse.”

Difficulties Accessing Disability Benefits

Researchers identified five major areas where SSA policy changes created barriers:

• changes to the phone system,
• changes to field offices’ appointment and walk-in policies,
• staffing cuts and reassignments,
• increased processing times and denials, and
• increased overpayments and payment center issues.

Specialists said many clients could not reach the right department, were bounced between automated phone systems, or waited months for responses while their health declined. Many advocates described the process as “getting stuck in a loop.”

Dire Consequences of Unresponsive Customer Service

Respondents described cases where applicants who faced delays in obtaining benefits lost their housing or went without food assistance or medical care. One respondent working with the SSA on behalf of her sick client said she worried her client would die before the SSA staff approved her benefits.

SSA’s Administrative Burdens Challenge Vulnerable People

According to the findings, administrative burdens in accessing disability benefits do not affect everyone the same way. The SSA’s push to move many services online hit some groups especially hard, including people who:

• Have limited technological literacy and internet access
• Have psychiatric, cognitive, or communication-related disabilities
• Face unstable housing situations

In other words, people who may most need disability benefits may also be the ones who face the most hurdles trying to get them.

Less Accountability Inside the SSA

Survey respondents said accountability has weakened at the SSA in part because regional offices were consolidated, greatly reducing advocates’ ability to resolve errors.

Unpredictable Rules Make Getting Benefits Harder

Survey respondents also said inconsistencies in how some SSA staff applied policies made it feel like the system was creating its own rules, undermining the predictability of benefits decisions.

Getting Basic Help Consumes Advocates’ Time and Resources

Customer service issues at the SSA are also straining the organizations and advocates that serve SSDI and SSI claimants. As the system becomes harder to navigate, advocates say they are spending more time on routine tasks just to get basic information.

How This Affects People With Disabilities

The report’s findings have real, daily-life consequences for the millions of Americans who rely on SSDI and SSI.

For new applicants, longer processing times and increased denial rates mean longer waits for benefits, during which people may fall into debt, lose housing, or delay needed medical care. Current beneficiaries face a more complicated process for updating documents, reporting life changes, or appealing decisions.

For those with cognitive, psychiatric, or communication disabilities, online-only services and automated phone systems can make the process especially difficult. People in rural areas or without reliable internet may struggle to reach field offices, some of which have reduced services or closed. And for immigrant families, fear and language barriers compound an already challenging system.

In the most severe cases documented by the report, delays and obstacles have caused people’s health to decline or left them homeless while waiting for benefits they were entitled to.

What You Can Do

Despite these reported obstacles, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and improve your chances of success.

• Seek professional help. SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery) caseworkers provide assistance with SSI and SSDI applications to eligible populations. While just 31 percent of unassisted initial applications are approved, 65 percent of SOAR-assisted applications are approved. To find a SOAR-trained worker in your area, contact your local homeless services provider.
• Connect with legal aid. Every year, legal aid organizations, advocacy organizations, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and private firms across the country help people apply for and maintain their Social Security disability benefits. Many of these services are free or low-cost.
• Document everything. Keep copies of every form you submit, every letter you receive, and notes from every phone call, including the date, time, and name of who you spoke with. This documentation becomes invaluable when appealing denials or disputing overpayments.
• Don’t give up on appeals. A denial is not the end of the road. Many initial denials are successfully overturned on appeal, especially with professional representation. You have the right to appeal and should request a hearing if your application is denied.
• Ask for accommodations. If navigating the online portal or traveling to a field office is impossible because of your disability, you can request accommodations from the SSA. Ask to speak with a manager or Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator if your needs are not being met.
• Contact your elected representatives. Congressional offices can sometimes intervene when constituents are experiencing unusual delays or unresponsive government agencies. A call or letter to your U.S. senator’s or representative’s office can sometimes help move a stalled case forward.
• Stay informed. Follow disability rights organizations like DREDF and AAPD for updates on policy changes and new resources.

A Call for Systemic Change

The researchers also provide recommendations for lawmakers and advocates. They call for more staffing at the SSA, consistent access to SSA services at field offices and by phone, and stronger protections to ensure vulnerable groups can still access benefits.

The report’s core message is simple: a system that was already hard to navigate has become even harder to use. As a result, people who need disability benefits are struggling to get the cash assistance they rely on to survive.