Social Security Expands Compassionate Allowances List – Expedites Decisions for People with Severe Disabilities

Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced nine new Compassionate Allowances (CAL) conditions and revisions to two existing CAL conditions: Bainbridge-Ropers Syndrome, Costello Syndrome, Adult Heart Transplant Wait List – Status Levels 1-4, Child Heart Transplant Wait List – Status Levels 1A/1B (revised existing condition), Histiocytic Malignancies, Histiocytosis Syndromes (revised existing condition), Neonatal Marfan Syndrome, PACS1 Syndrome, Plasmablastic Lymphoma, Renal Medullary Carcinoma, and Snijders Blok-Campeau Syndrome.

The Compassionate Allowances program quickly identifies claims where the applicant’s medical condition or disease clearly meets Social Security’s statutory standard for disability. Due to the severe nature of many of these conditions, these claims are often allowed based on medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone.

To date, more than one million people with severe disabilities have been approved through this accelerated, policy-compliant disability process, which now includes a total of 287 conditions.

“I am steadfastly committed to reducing the amount of time people wait to receive a decision on their disability claim, and we are making progress,” said Commissioner O’Malley. “Compassionate Allowances helps in this effort by accelerating the disability application process for people who are likely to get approved for benefits due to the severity of their medical condition.”

When a person applies for disability benefits, Social Security must obtain medical records in order to make an accurate determination. The agency incorporates leading technology to identify potential CAL conditions and make quick decisions. Social Security’s Health IT brings the speed and efficiency of electronic medical records to the disability determination process. Through electronic records transmission, Social Security is able to quickly obtain a claimant’s medical information, review it, and make a determination faster than ever before.

For more information about the program, including a list of all CAL conditions, please visit www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances.

To learn more about Social Security’s Health IT program, please visit www.ssa.gov/hit.

People may apply online for disability benefits by visiting www.ssa.gov.