Through a combination of high unemployment, an aging population and an uneven process for awarding benefits, the disability system is under strain and could run out of reserves within six to seven years, say budget experts. Applications and appeals, meanwhile, are accumulating in backlog. 
The agency is under political pressure to reduce the backlog.
The Social Security Disability Insurance program paid $130 billion in benefits to 10.6 million people in 2011 and $124 billion in benefits in 2010, up from $55 billion in 2001. The backlog of pending appeals in September was 771,318, up from 705,367 in 2010 and 392,397 in 2001.
The Social Security Administration spends millions of dollars each year on more than 2,000 medical consultants who scour the medical records of Americans who believe they have a disability so severe they can’t work. Most doctors work for the state agencies that administer the program and are sometimes the only people with medical expertise to review claims. Others, like those in Baltimore, contract directly with the Social Security Administration.
3.2 million people trying to enter the program this year, such duplication became problematic.
In February 2010, the inspector general, as part of a probe investigating complaints by a doctor, discovered a doctor in the Alabama disability determination office who approved between 80 and 100 decisions a day. Another Alabama doctor signed off on 30 cases an hour after performing only a “cursory review of each case.” The investigation said several doctors complained of pressure from superiors to approve a higher number of applications to meet statistical goals.
The Social Security Administration, in a response to the investigation, said it planned to make certain changes, but defended the Alabama office, saying it “excels” in “performance standards on timeliness and accuracy rates.”