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Disability Conditions
Fast-Tracked
By
Delia De Mello |
 Here’s
some important news if you’re applying for Social Security
disability benefits for yourself or a loved one. There are
100 conditions that qualify for an expedited process known
as Compassionate Allowances.
Compassionate Allowances, which began in December 2007, are
a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical
conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security’s
standards for disability benefits.
“We have an obligation to award benefits quickly to people
whose medical conditions are so serious they clearly meet
our disability standards,” says Michael J. Astrue, Social
Security commissioner. “We are now able to do precisely that
for 100 severe conditions.”
The Compassionate Allowances conditions are developed from
information received at public outreach hearings and from
the Social Security and Disability Determination Service
communities, medical and scientific experts, and the
National Institutes of Health. Social Security also
considers which conditions are most likely to meet its
definition of disability.
“By definition, these illnesses are so severe that we don’t
need to develop the applicant’s work history fully to make a
decision,” Astrue says. “As a result, Social Security has
eliminated this part of the application process for people
who have a condition on the list, and we can award benefits
much more quickly.”
The Compassionate Allowances initiative is one of two parts
of the agency’s fast-track system for certain disability
claims. When combined with the Quick Disability
Determination (QDD) process, Social Security last year
approved the claims of more than 100,000 people, usually in
less than two weeks. This year, the agency expects to
fast-track nearly 150,000 cases. Under QDD, a predictive
model analyzes specific elements of data within the
electronic claims file to identify claims where there is a
high potential the claimant is disabled and where evidence
of the person’s allegations can be quickly and easily
obtained.
For more information on Compassionate Allowances, including
a list of all 100 conditions, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.
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About The Author
Delia M. De Mello, metropolitan public affairs
specialist, has been with the Social Security Administration
since 1986. She is a member of the Office of Communication’s
Multi Language Review team. For more information, call (800)
772-1213 or visit www.socialsecurity.gov.
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