How long does it take to get a decision after a disability hearing?

Unfortunately, there's no way to know how long it will take to get a decision after a hearing has been held. And this is, obviously, a matter of great consternation for most claimants who go to a hearing.

Many social security disability and SSI claimants look forward to their disability hearing date as "the end" of the process. However, even after a case has been heard, it may still take an administrative law judge a number of months to have a decision letter sent out. This is true even when a judge who has heard a case indicates at the hearing what the eventual decision will be (typically, a judge will only do this when they are sure they will approve a claim).

Why is there such a lag between the holding of a hearing and the time it takes to receive a decision letter? Mainly because of backlogs in the disability system. At some hearing offices, the backlog reaches into the thousands (of cases).