BALTIMORE, MD — The Social Security Administration added 14 serious medical conditions to its Compassionate Allowances list last week, expanding the number of diagnoses eligible for accelerated disability determinations to 314 as the agency seeks to reduce processing time for applicants with severe conditions.
The newly added conditions include rare genetic disorders, aggressive cancers and severe neurological diseases. Among them are hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma, primary cardiac sarcoma, metastatic uveal melanoma, Lafora disease and Aicardi syndrome.
The additions also cover Adenylosuccinate Lyase Deficiency — Neonatal Form and Type 1; Baraitser-Winter Syndrome; Beare-Stevenson Cutis Gyrata Syndrome; Bohring-Opitz Syndrome; CASK-Related Gene Disorders; Malignant Migrating Partial Seizures of Infancy; OPHN1 Syndrome; Primary Intracranial Malignant Melanoma; and Warburg Micro Syndrome.
The Compassionate Allowances initiative is designed to identify disability claims involving diseases and conditions that clearly meet Social Security’s statutory standard for disability, allowing those applications to move through the determination process more quickly.
Since the program began, more than 1.2 million people with severe disabilities have been approved through the accelerated process, according to SSA.
“The Compassionate Allowances initiative cuts through red tape and allows us to deliver support to individuals who experience life-changing diagnoses and need help fast,” Social Security Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano stated.
Applicants still must provide medical evidence sufficient for SSA to determine eligibility. The agency said it uses technology to identify claims that may involve Compassionate Allowances conditions and prioritize them for expedited review.
SSA’s Health IT program can also transmit electronic medical records directly and securely to disability adjudicators in some cases, potentially shortening the time required to obtain documentation and issue a decision.
The Health IT capability is not available for every disability claim, the agency noted.
A full list of Compassionate Allowances conditions is available at www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances. Information about Social Security’s Health IT program is available at www.ssa.gov/hit.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.