3 New Conditions Added to the Compassionate Allowances for Social Security Disability
December 18, 2017
To qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, in addition to having accumulated enough work credits, an applicant must have a disabling condition that renders them unable to work. The Social Security Administration (SSA) developed a program in 2008 called Compassionate Allowance (CAL) that identifies SSD claims where the applicant’s disease meets the SSA’s definition of disability. The SSA has a list of more than 200 qualifying conditions for CAL that includes certain types of cancers, brain disorders and other rare disorders. in 2017, the SSA expanded that list to include three new conditions:- Vanishing White Matter Disease
- Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy
- Kleefstrsa Syndrome
With the SSA’s current backlog that only seems to get worse, it can take at least a year before an application for benefits get reviewed. A person with a qualifying condition for Compassionate Allowance may not have a year to wait especially if their condition is terminal. The CAL program speeds the time that the SSA takes to review an application and determine whether they will be approved for disability benefits. The SSA Uses the same criteria to decide whether an applicant for SSDI or SSI will be approved for benefits under the Compassionate Allowance initiative.
In a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report form September 2017, from the program’s inception in 2008 to 2016, the SSA has approved more than 500,000 claims for disability benefits through the CAL initiative, and claims that qualify for the CAL program account for about 3% of the total claims for disability benefits.
If your claim is accepted into the CAL initiative, your application will be fast tracked through the approval process which shortens the time when you will start receiving Social Security Disability benefits. There is no special process for the CAL program. You submit your application and if you have met the work credits qualifications for SSDI and the income verification for SSI, the Social Security Administration will enter it into the Compassionate Allowance initiative.
In instances where an applicant has a condition that qualifies for the CAL program, but their file has not been included in the Compassionate Allowance program, they might consider working with an experienced Social Security Disability attorney in Philadelphia.
At Larry Pitt & Associates, our Philadelphia Social Security Disability lawyers guide and advocate for applicants through each phase of their application process. We leverage our experience gained from helping countless clients before you to prepare and present compelling evidence about your disability. You are welcome to speak with a compassionate disability attorney at 888.PITT.LAW or complete our contact form now. We represent applicants with disabilities before Social Security offices and judges throughout Philadelphia and the suburban counties of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery.
