Earlier this month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that it's expanding the list of conditions for which Social Security disability benefits claimants may seek a "Compassionate Allowance," a program that fast tracks certain claims based on the nature of the claimant's disability.
"Social Security handles more than three million disability applications each year and we need to keep innovating and making our work more efficient," SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said in announcing the expansion on October 13. "With our Compassionate Allowances program, we quickly approved disability benefits for more than 60,000 people with severe disabilities in the past fiscal year. We have made significant improvements, but we can always do more."
Under the program, the SSA has identified certain serious medical conditions requiring only minimal objective medical evidence to show that a person suffering from the condition is disabled and entitled to Social Security disability benefits. A claimant whose condition falls under one of these categories may apply for a "Compassionate Allowance," speeding the claim process to a matter of weeks rather than months.
According to the SSA, the agency approved more than 100,000 cases, usually in less than two weeks, under both the Compassionate Allowance and Quick Disability Determination (QDD) - which uses a computer predictive model to screen initial applications to identify cases where a favorable disability determination is highly likely and medical evidence is quickly and easily obtainable - processes in 2010. This year, the agency expects to fast-track nearly 150,000 cases.
The conditions added to the program earlier this month include immune system and neurological disorders such as Malignant Multiple Sclerosis, Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. The announcement comes three months after the SSA added 12 conditions, including Aortic Atresia, Eisenmenger Syndrome and Endomyocardial Fibrosis to the list.
While persons with these conditions should be approved with little difficulty and we would often tell someone to apply on their own so they don't have to pay an attorney's fee; we find that for a lot of people the stress and paperwork associated with even a compassionate allowance claim is more than they can handle alone. We certainly will handle those cases when representation is necessary.
The SSA launched the Compassionate Allowance program in 2008, beginning with a list of 50 eligible conditions. Since that time the list has grown to 113 based on information received at seven public outreach hearings, comments received from the Social Security and Disability Determination Service communities, input from medical and scientific experts and National Institutes of Health (NIH) research.
The addition of the new conditions to the Compassionate Allowance program is effective December 1.
Social Security disability benefits are available for persons who are unable to work for a year or more due to a physical or mental impairment, or a combination thereof. A person seeking benefits through either the standard or fast-track processes must submit an application or claim, which can be done by telephone, mail or online. In addition to other background information, the applicant is asked to describe the impairment and any treatment of it. This is the most difficult and confusing part of the process and the point at which a good attorney's help can be invaluable. An experienced disability lawyer knows what information must be included in the initial application, and an excellent Social Security attorney will not only guide his or her client through the process but file the application for the client as well.
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