Social Security Compassionate Allowances

In order to speed up the processing of Social Security Disability claims, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008. The program is intended to expedite the initial claim process for those individuals deemed to have a disabling condition that qualifies as a Compassionate Allowance.

The SSA has compiled a list of 88 disabling conditions that qualify for the Compassionate Allowance program. If you have medical documentation to prove that you have one of the qualifying conditions, your initial claim will automatically be flagged by the SSA and processed in 3 weeks.

Listed below are the conditions that qualify for an expedited application process. Please click on the name of the condition for more information on how to apply for disability benefits when suffering from that specific condition:

A

• Acute Leukemia
• Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
• Aicardi Goutieres Syndrome (ALX) - Neonatal and Infantile
• Alexander Disease (ALX) - Neonatal and Infantile
• Alobar Holoprosencephaly
• Alpers Disease
• Alpha Mannosidosis
• Alstrom Syndrome
• Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
• Angelman Syndrome
• Aortic Atresia
• Astrocytoma - Grade III and IV
• Ataxia Telangiectasia

B

• Batten Disease
• Bilateral Retinoblastoma
• Bladder Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
• Bone Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
• Breast Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable

C

• Canavan Disease (CD)
• Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site
• Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - Blast Phase
• Corticobasal Degeneration
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) - Adult
• Cri du Chat Syndrome

D

• Degos Disease, Systemic

E

• Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
• Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18)
• Eisenmenger Syndrome
• Endomyocardial Fibrosis
• Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Tumor)
• Esophageal Cancer

F

• Farber's Disease (FD) - Infantile
• Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
• Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
• Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A - Adult
• Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

G

• Gallbladder Cancer
• Gaucher Disease (GD) - Type 2
• Glioblastoma Multiforme (Adult Brain Tumor)
• Glutaric Acidemia Type II (Neonatal)

H

• Head and Neck Cancers - with distant metastasis or inoperable or uresectable
• Heart Transplant Graft Failure
• Heart Transplant Wait List - 1A/1B
• Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), Familial Type
• Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

I

• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
• Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
• Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)

J

• Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type

K

• Kidney Cancer - inoperable or unresectable
• Krabbe Disease (KD) - Infantile

L

• Large Intestine Cancer - with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
• Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
• Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Recipient
• Leigh’s Disease
• Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
• Lewy Body Dementia
• Liver Cancer
• Lowe Syndrome

M

• Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
• Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
• Maple Syrup Urine Disease
• Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
• Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) - Late Infantile
• Mitral Valve Atresia
• Mixed Dementias
• MPS I, formally known as Hurler Syndrome
• MPS II, formally known as Hunter Syndrome
• MPS III, formally known as Sanfilippo Syndrome
• Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
• Multicentric Castleman Disease
• Multiple System Atrophy

N

• Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) - Type A
• Niemann-Pick Disease-Type C
• Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - with metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent

O

• Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
• Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) - Type II
• Ovarian Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable

P

• Pancreatic Cancer
• Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
• Parkinsonism Dementia Complex
• Patau Syndrome (Trisomy 13)
• Peritoneal Mesothelioma
• Pleural Mesothelioma
• Pompe Disease - Infantile
• Primary Cardiac Amyloidosis
• Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
• Primary Effusion Lymphoma
• Primary Progressive Aphasia
• Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
• Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
• Pulmonary Atresia
• Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma

R

• Rett (RTT) Syndrome

S

• Salivary Tumors
• Sandhoff Disease
• Single Ventricle
• Small Cell Cancer (of the Large Intestine, Ovary, Prostate, or Uterus)
• Small Cell Lung Cancer
• Small Intestine Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - Types 0 And 1
• Spinocerebellar Ataxia
• Stomach Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
• Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis

T

• Tay Sachs Disease - Infantile Type
• Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
• Thyroid Cancer
• Tricuspid Atresia

U

• Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
• Ureter Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent

W

• Walker Warburg Syndrome
• Wolman Disease

Z

• Zellweger Syndrome