Compassionate Allowances

I found myself surprised recently as the Social Security Administration recently held a hearing and added more conditions to their Compassionate Allowances list. I find it difficult to swallow that the SSA has any level of compassion, but that is my personal opinion. The Compassionate Allowances program was launched in 2008 to help expedite processing of claims which fall under certain medical criteria and include diagnoses confirming any one of 50 medical conditions. This list has since grown, and effective August 2012 will total 165 conditions. Many of the conditions are genetic, various types of cancers, heart or respiratory conditions but for the most part fall within “terminal” outcomes or at least considered permanent with no full recovery expected. Most are rare or obscure at the best, but some would be familiar to most laypersons. There have been measures put into place so the Disability Offices will be able to better recognize and process claims for individuals who have any one of these conditions. The catch though is to be sure there is a formal diagnosis and to notify the Disability Office of the conditions either through your initial application with the SSA or by notifying the Disability Office of the condition as soon as it has been diagnosed. For a full list of the Compassionate Allowances, you can search the SSA’s website or follow this link: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/conditions.htm