The Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances program recognizes that some diseases are so devastating that they automatically make the cut, thus ending long waits for victims.
Fifty diseases were orignally designated for fast track resolution and thrity-eight were added as of March 1, 2009.
This is expected to impact 100,000 claims.
Social Security is launching this expedited decision process with a total of 88 conditions. Over time, more diseases and conditions will be added. A list of the first 50 impairments — 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers — can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.
Fifty diseases are included, such as:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease;
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the brain-wasting ailment related to mad-cow disease; and
- Pancreatic cancer
Original Fifty Compassionate Allowance Conditions:
- Acute Leukemia
- Adrenal Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Alexander Disease (ALX) – Neonatal and Infantile
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Astrocytoma – Grade III and IV
- Bladder Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Bone Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Breast Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Canavan Disease (CD)
- Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) – Blast Phase
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – Adult
- Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Tumor)
- Esophageal Cancer
- Farber’s Disease (FD) – Infantile
- Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
- Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A – Adult
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Gaucher Disease (GD) – Type 2
- Glioblastoma Multiforme (Brain Tumor)
- Head and Neck Cancers – with distant metastasis or inoperable or uresectable
- Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
- Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
- Kidney Cancer – inoperable or unresectable
- Krabbe Disease (KD) – Infantile
- Large Intestine Cancer – with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
- Liver Cancer
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
- Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) – Late Infantile
- Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) – Type A
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – with metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
- Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) – Type II
- Ovarian Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Peritoneal Mesothelioma
- Pleural Mesothelioma
- Pompe Disease – Infantile
- Rett (RTT) Syndrome
- Salivary Tumors
- Sandhoff Disease
- Small Cell Cancer (of the Large Intestine, Ovary, Prostate, or Uterus)
- Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Small Intestine Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – Types 0 And 1
- Stomach Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Thyroid Cancer
- Ureter Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Thirty Eight New Compassionate Allowance Conditions
- Alstrom Syndrome
- Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
- Ataxia Spinocerebellar
- Ataxia Telangiectasia
- Batten Disease
- Bilateral Retinoblastoma
- Cri du Chat Syndrome
- Degos Disease
- Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
- Edwards Syndrome
- Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
- Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Glutaric Acidemia Type II
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), Familial Type
- Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
- Hunter Syndrome, Type II
- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
- Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- Leigh’s Disease
- Maple Syrup Urine Disease
- Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Mixed Dementia
- Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
- Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, Infantile Type
- Niemann-Pick Type C
- Patau Syndrome
- Primary Progressive Aphasia
- Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
- Sanfilippo Syndrome
- Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
- Tay Sachs Disease
- Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
- Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Walker Warburg Syndrome
- Wolman Disease
- Zellweger Syndrome
These fifty diseases are considered so severe that continuing to work is not an option.
This program will work in tandem with the agency’s Quick Disability Determination program, which scans electronic claims for key terms that indicate a claim is likely to be approved. Between the two programs, Social Security officials say as many as 250,000 cases a year could be fast-tracked.