Compassionate Allowances was established to efficiently identify the health issues that meet standards of being disabled under law. This program is not separate from Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income. Social Security’s Compassionate Allowance is a special program that expedites the application or disability process for specific qualifying medical conditions. The merit of a claim can be decided solely on the documented and recorded diagnosis. However, medical records will be evaluated to not only confirm a diagnosis, but additional limitations that may be applicable when evaluating the specific criteria.
Medical records can help show that a disability claimant’s conditions and limitations, as well as response to treatment, would be so severe that they would merit consideration of an award of disability benefits based on the Compassionate Allowance criteria alone. In other words, a finding that a claimant’s conditions meet the criteria for one or more of those outlined in the Compassionate Allowance listing would allow for a quicker decision, granting disability benefits, without further waiting and appeals needed.
Overall these conditions include many types of cancers, ALS, neurological disease, rare disorders that impact children, and more. There is an exhaustive list of around 200 conditions that fall under the Compassionate Allowance program. Many of these conditions account for terminal illnesses and incurable diseases. Parameters on the severity of the condition and prognosis are established when deciding the merit of the claim. Below is a link to all of the current diseases listed under the Compassionate Allowances (CAL) Conditions: https://www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances/conditions.htm. Examples of some of the most common conditions for these type of applications are:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Mixed dementia
- Breast Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Child Lymphoma
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Kidney Cancer – inoperable or unresectable
- Liver Cancer
- Ovarian Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Salivary Cancers
- Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
If you have a condition(s) on the Compassionate Allowance list, benefits can be approved in as quickly as a few weeks or months. You will want to make sure that all medical documentation is received timely and any letters in support to help confirm the criteria is met are supplied. You will want to make sure that all paperwork is filed and deadlines are met, and communicate any changes or updates regularly. At Disability Law Group, our goal is to help our clients win the benefits they deserve as quickly as possible.
If you or a loved one have one of these qualifying conditions, or another condition not included in this list, please contact our office for a free consultation at 248-838-3000 or https://disabilitylawgroup.com/. Our legal team has personally have had relatives, family and friends, as well as many other clients go through this process. We are here to help you win the benefits you deserve as quickly as possible.
Sources
- Compassionate Allowances Conditions: https://www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances/conditions.htm
