Social Security Makes it Easier for People with Severe Disabilities to Get Help
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: August 11, 2025
If you or someone you care about is living with a serious medical condition, you understand how crucial it is to receive timely support. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has recently added 13 new conditions to its Compassionate Allowances (CAL) list, which will enable more people to access disability benefits more quickly.
What’s the Compassionate Allowances List?
The CAL list is our way of fast-tracking help for people with the most severe health problems. If your condition is on this list, it’s serious enough to qualify for disability benefits and your application is moved to the front of the line.
What’s Changed?
We added these 13 conditions to the CAL list:
- Au-Kline Syndrome
- Bilateral Anophthalmia
- Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome
- Harlequin Ichthyosis – Child
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Progressive Muscular Atrophy
- Pulmonary Amyloidosis – AL Type
- Rasmussen Encephalitis
- Thymic Carcinoma
- Turnpenny-Fry Syndrome
- WHO Grade III Meningiomas
- Zhu-Tokita-Takenouchi-Kim Syndrome
With these additions, there are now 300 conditions on the list. That means more people than ever can get the help they need, without waiting months or even years for a decision.
Why Does This Matter?
Waiting for disability benefits can be stressful, especially when you’re dealing with a life-changing diagnosis. The CAL initiative is designed to cut through the red tape for people who need help the most. Since the initiative started, over 1.1 million people have gotten benefits more quickly because their conditions were on the list.
How Does It Work?
When you apply for disability benefits, we review your medical records to see if you qualify. If your condition is on the CAL list, we use technology to flag your application and speed things up. In some cases, we can even get your medical records electronically, which makes the process even faster.
For the full list of CAL conditions, visit: ssa.gov/compassionateallowances. To start your application for disability benefits, visit: www.ssa.gov/apply.
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Lucy
Some folks walk in get social security benefits right away. And these folks are very capable of getting a job and working. While others who need it have to wait and suffer while waiting. Our system is not right. Just my thoughts.
Anna L.
As with everything else everywhere, quality of customer service has gone down. SSA should open 24/7 like Medicare to shorten wait time.
Anderson
If you haven’t created a personal my Social Security account yet, reach out to Frank Bisignano, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the United States. I recently completed mine and received my Social Authentication PIN (SAP).
https://www.facebook.com/F.Bisignano
Mary
While article was interesting, it doesnt relate to ME, and I don’t know persons who might have one of the disabilities mentioned, so can’t refer it.
Anderson
If you haven’t created a personal my Social Security account yet, reach out to Frank Bisignano, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the United States. I recently completed mine and received my Social Authentication PIN (SAP).
https://www.facebook.com/F.Bisignano
Niko P.
“someone you care about is living with a serious medical condition, you understand how crucial it is to receive timely support” Yeah. Me. And my claim has been stuck processing since 2021, currently taking over a year and a half for the appeals process, which averages 90 days, per your website. What an absolute joke of an administration.
Anderson
If you haven’t created a personal my Social Security account yet, reach out to Frank Bisignano, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the United States. I recently completed mine and received my Social Authentication PIN (SAP).
https://www.facebook.com/F.Bisignano
P. v.
Rehire the people you laid off and deal with the current backlog.
Marie
I skipped work to personally go to SSA office because I had problems signing in online. But, their employee tried kicking me out of the office and pushed me to go online not caring about my questions and situation because they’re busy. I have poor connection at home and can’t afford to pay high speed internet service and I’ve been trying for a year here n there between my hectic work schedule, so I decided to visit in person.
Now, I’m just thinking that, perhaps those who were laid off were actually those awful or non-productive ones. So if that’s the case, then that gives SSA an opportunity to now hire good, sensible and hardworking ones to reduce or even eliminate backlogs.
Anderson
If you haven’t created a personal my Social Security account yet, reach out to Frank Bisignano, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration in the United States. I recently completed mine and received my Social Authentication PIN (SAP).
https://www.facebook.com/F.Bisignano
Tony
The SSA added more conditions to the compassionate allowance list which will result in longer wait time for those on the list.
Compassionate allowance applicants will jump the line in front of people on the regular list. The priority is the compassionate allowance list which means extremely long wait time for people on the regular list.
The SSA rigs the average wait time by completing more of the easier compassionate allowance cases to offset the long wait time on the regular list.
Instead of coming up with a solution to the long wait time on the regular list, the SSA wants more simple cases to be completed on the compassionate allowance list to lower the average wait time.
The compassionate allowance list wait time has gotten longer and the regular list has a super long wait time.
The wait time has gotten so bad that the State DDS had to stop the CDR reviews. Another big back log is coming.
People can’t find job and will resort to filing for disability to survive. So many people can’t find jobs and it will lead to social unrest. Trump has already gotten the national guards to protect Washington D.C.
Trump fired tens of thousands of federal employees and there are a bunch that will go postal. The odds were high with the normal firings and layoffs, but it is super high with the mass layoffs and firings. You add another factor that they can’t find a new job and the odds go through the roof for that one disgruntled employee. It will take a few months before the disgruntled employees lose all hope and snaps.
The threat level is high to send in the national guard. The politicians only want the national guards to protect them in Washington DC and not the people at the other federal agencies in other states.
Carlton N.
I tolee agree what you’re saying about the National Guard being in Washington DC to protect the politicians it’s about Trump it’s amazing not just to me how Congratulations is afraid of Trump we in America have never in the history of this country seeing anything like Trump .For the first time the president of America is taking over the Kennedy Center in Washington DC Trump thinks he is strong but acts like a child.
Ezechias N.
Sir you are correct,by diminishing the federal work force ,Mr bankruptcy has treated the country like the dreaded tax majal,,lousy steaks and recycled water.we had a great system then people turned their backs to the constitution and government of the people ,by the people.
David F.
Have you looked at Guillian Barre Syndrome and Bipolar syndrome. Which I had when I signed up for DisabilityBenefits 15 years ago. About 5 years ago you switched me to Social Security Benefits. I am unable to work still and wondering if I should switch back to Disability Benefits . Do I receive the same amount of benefits . Also a broken back compressed fracture . A recent fall separated my clavical.
Brian M.
Hope you will rehire the folks randomly laid off by DOGE. That will actually help service.
Jane
I’m headed in to year two of my disability claim not wait years what a joke
Marietta C.
I also waited 2 years . Hang in there it will come. I had money for a rainy day that tied me over.
Sal A.
I’ve been waiting over two years now on my disability claim with no income, Don’t understand what can take so long. Try raising a family with no income. Thank God my wife is still able to work but it’s tough having to adjust to very low income.
Mary C.
If you haven’t gotten an attorney who specializesin SS, you may want to. Everyone I have talked to said they had to do that. Hope you get this resolved soon. Take care.
Muhammad
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JulioKing
This is great news! My cousin has LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy. The application process for disability was incredibly stressful for her and her family. Knowing that these conditions are now fast-tracked will hopefully ease the burden for others facing similar challenges. It’s a much-needed change that recognizes the severity of these illnesses. Geometry Dash