The Social Security Administration (SSA) said on Monday that it will include additional conditions that can be part of its compassionate allowances, part of an approach to speed applications for disability benefits.
In a statement on Monday, the SSA said there will be nine new compassionate allowances conditions with two original designations receiving revisions. The ailments included in the new approach are:
- Bainbridge-Ropers Syndrome
- Costello Syndrome
- Adult Heart Transplant Wait List – Status Levels 1-4
- Child Heart Transplant Wait List – Status Levels 1A/1B (revised existing condition)
- Histiocytic Malignancies
- Histiocytosis Syndromes (revised existing condition)
- Neonatal Marfan Syndrome
- PACS1 Syndrome
- Plasmablastic Lymphoma
- Renal Medullary Carcinoma
- Snijders Blok-Campeau Syndrome.
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“The Compassionate Allowances program quickly identifies claims where the applicant’s medical condition or disease clearly meets Social Security’s statutory standard for disability,” the agency said in a statement. “Due to the severe nature of many of these conditions, these claims are often allowed based on medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone. To date, more than one million people with severe disabilities have been approved through this accelerated, policy-compliant disability process, which now includes a total of 287 conditions.”
SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley said the move was geared toward helping accelerate the process of applying for disability benefits.
“I am steadfastly committed to reducing the amount of time people wait to receive a decision on their disability claim, and we are making progress,” O’Malley said in the statement. “Compassionate Allowances helps in this effort by accelerating the disability application process for people who are likely to get approved for benefits due to the severity of their medical condition.”
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As of July, 7.2 million Americans were receiving disability benefits from the SSA, according to government data. The total monthly benefits came in at $11 million, with an average payment of about $1,500.
SSA pointed out that to authenticate the validity of disability applications, the agency looked at medical records of a person requesting benefits. The agency said that it was deploying technological tools to ensure the accuracy of the applications.
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“The agency incorporates leading technology to identify potential CAL conditions and make quick decisions,” the SSA said. “Social Security’s Health IT brings the speed and efficiency of electronic medical records to the disability determination process.
“Through electronic records transmission, Social Security is able to quickly obtain a claimant’s medical information, review it, and make a determination faster than ever before.”
