There was good news earlier this month for Social Security disability claimants. The Social Security Administration announced an addition of several conditions to the Compassionate Allowances program. Here is the announcement:
Fast Track Disability Process Will Now Include 200 Conditions
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 35 additional Compassionate Allowances conditions are in effect, bringing the total number of conditions in the expedited disability process to 200. Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security’s standards for disability benefits. The program fast-tracks disability decisions to ensure that Americans with the most serious disabilities receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years. These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children.
“We have achieved another milestone for the Compassionate Allowances program, reaching 200 conditions,” Commissioner Astrue said. “Nearly 200,000 people with severe disabilities nationwide have been quickly approved, usually in less than two weeks, through the program since it began in October 2008.”
By definition, these conditions are so severe that Social Security does not need to fully develop the applicant’s work history to make a decision. As a result, Social Security eliminated this part of the application process for people who have a condition on the list.
Social Security has held seven public hearings and worked with experts to develop the list of Compassionate Allowances conditions. The hearings also have helped the agency identify ways to improve the disability process for applicants with Compassionate Allowances conditions.
For more information on the Compassionate Allowances initiative, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.
New Compassionate Allowances Conditions
- Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Adult Onset Huntington Disease
- Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome
- Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
- Aplastic Anemia
- Beta Thalassemia Major
- Bilateral Optic Atrophy – Infantile
- Caudal Regression Syndrome – Types III and IV
- Child T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
- Congenital Lymphedema
- DeSanctis Cacchione Syndrome
- Dravet Syndrome
- Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma
- Erdheim Chester Disease
- Fatal Familial Insomnia
- Fryns Syndrome
- Fulminant Giant Cell Myocrditis
- Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
- Hepatorenal Syndrome
- Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome
- Leiomyosarcoma
- Malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
- Malignant Germ Cell Tumor
- MECP 2 Duplication Syndrome
- Menkes Disease – Classic or Infantile Onset Form
- NFU-1 Mitochondrial Disease
- Non-Ketotic Hyperglcinemia
- Peritoneal Mucinous Carcinomatosis
- Phelan- McDermid Syndrome
- Retinopathy of Prematurity – Stage V
- Roberts Syndrome
- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency – Childhood
- Sinonasal Cancer
- Transplant Coronary Artery Vasculopathy
- Usher Syndrome – Type I
