Fast track Social Security program right to grant some diseases immediate qualification

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:

  1. Acute Leukemia
  2. Adrenal Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  3. Alexander Disease (ALX) – Neonatal and Infantile
  4. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
  5. Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  6. Astrocytoma – Grade III and IV
  7. Bladder Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
  8. Bone Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
  9. Breast Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
  10. Canavan Disease (CD)
  11. Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
  12. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) – Blast Phase
  13. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – Adult
  14. Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Tumor)
  15. Esophageal Cancer
  16. Farber’s Disease (FD) – Infantile
  17. Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
  18. Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A – Adult
  19. Gallbladder Cancer
  20. Gaucher Disease (GD) – Type 2
  21. Glioblastoma Multiforme (Brain Tumor)
  22. Head and Neck Cancers – with distant metastasis or inoperable or uresectable
  23. Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
  24. Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
  25. Kidney Cancer – inoperable or unresectable
  26. Krabbe Disease (KD) – Infantile
  27. Large Intestine Cancer – with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  28. Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
  29. Liver Cancer
  30. Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
  31. Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) – Late Infantile
  32. Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) – Type A
  33. Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – with metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  34. Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
  35. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) – Type II
  36. Ovarian Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
  37. Pancreatic Cancer
  38. Peritoneal Mesothelioma
  39. Pleural Mesothelioma
  40. Pompe Disease – Infantile
  41. Rett (RTT) Syndrome
  42. Salivary Tumors
  43. Sandhoff Disease
  44. Small Cell Cancer (of the Large Intestine, Ovary, Prostate, or Uterus)
  45. Small Cell Lung Cancer
  46. Small Intestine Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  47. Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – Types 0 And 1
  48. Stomach Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
  49. Thyroid Cancer
  50. Ureter Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent

Thirty Eight New Compassionate Allowance Conditions

  1. Alstrom Syndrome
  2. Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
  3. Ataxia Spinocerebellar
  4. Ataxia Telangiectasia
  5. Batten Disease
  6. Bilateral Retinoblastoma
  7. Cri du Chat Syndrome
  8. Degos Disease
  9. Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
  10. Edwards Syndrome
  11. Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
  12. Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
  13. Glutaric Acidemia Type II
  14. Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), Familial Type
  15. Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
  16. Hunter Syndrome, Type II
  17. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
  18. Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
  19. Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
  20. Leigh’s Disease
  21. Maple Syrup Urine Disease
  22. Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
  23. Mixed Dementia
  24. Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
  25. Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
  26. Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, Infantile Type
  27. Niemann-Pick Type C
  28. Patau Syndrome
  29. Primary Progressive Aphasia
  30. Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
  31. Sanfilippo Syndrome
  32. Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
  33. Tay Sachs Disease
  34. Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
  35. Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
  36. Walker Warburg Syndrome
  37. Wolman Disease
  38. 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.