35 More Medical Conditions Fast-Tracked for Disability Benefits, Social Security Announces

By Editor, on December 10th, 2012

The Social Security Administration (SSA) on December 6 issued a press release, announcing that it has added 35 medical conditions to its list of “Compassionate Allowances” – a list of serious diseases and medical conditions for which one is entitled to “fast track” consideration of an application for disability benefits. This brings the list to include 200 of the most serious medical conditions.

The conditions on the Compassionate Allowances list are deemed by the Social Security Administration, by definition, to meet its standards for disability benefits.

This means that Americans with these most serious disabilities can “receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years,” SSA indicates.

The conditions on the Compassionate Allowances list include “primarily … certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children,” according to SSA’s release.

A complete list of conditions qualifying for the Compassionate Allowances fast track process, and more information about the program, can be found at: www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

“Nearly 200,000 people with severe disabilities nationwide have been quickly approved, usually in less than two weeks, through the [Compassionate Allowances] program since it began in October 2008,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, in his announcement of the 35 new conditions added to the fast-track program.

The press release issued by the Social Security Administration on Thursday, December 6 is shown below. A list of the 35 new conditions added to the Compassionate Allowances program is found at the end of the press release below:

Press Release

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Mark Hinkle, Acting Press Officer

For Immediate Release

410-965-8904

press.office@ssa.gov

Social Security Announces New Compassionate Allowances Conditions

Fast Track Disability Process Will Now Include 200 Conditions
(Printer friendly version)

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

More Information

See related HelpingYouCare^® reports on:

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