We Can Fast-Track Disability Decisions for People With Severe Conditions
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: February 27, 2025
Rare Disease Day is an annual international campaign held on the last day of February to advocate for people living with one of approximately 6,000 rare diseases.
The goal of Rare Disease Day is to improve access to diagnosis, treatment, care, and opportunities for the 300 million people throughout the world with a rare disease.
What are Compassionate Allowances?
Our Compassionate Allowances help us fast-track medical decisions for people who apply for disability and have the most severe conditions. They include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and rare diseases that affect children.
The Compassionate Allowances (CAL) program allows us to make quick and accurate determinations for adults and children with serious diseases and other disorders that meet our disability standards.
We’ve approved more than 1 million people since this accelerated disability process began in 2008.
How does the CAL program work?
When a person applies for disability, we must obtain and review evidence to make a medical determination. This process generally takes 6 to 8 months. By combining technology and electronic medical records, we’re able to identify applicants with certain conditions and make faster decisions. We can often medically approve an application as soon as we confirm the person’s diagnosis.
We continue to expand the CAL program, and our list of conditions has grown from the original 50 to 287. In August 2024, we added 9 new Compassionate Allowances. You can ask us to add a specific condition to our list. To learn more, check out Submit the Name of a Condition For Consideration.
If you or someone you know is considering applying for disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you can check eligibility online by answering a few questions. Visit our website to complete our adult application.
To make an appointment for yourself or a child, you can call 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. To determine how long it may take to get a disability decision in your state, check out Apply for Social Security benefits.
We hope you’ll join us in observing Rare Disease Day. Please let others know about our Compassionate Allowances and share the information on social media.
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Tags: Disability, SSI, supplemental security income
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Premlata V.
Hi,
URGENT:
My cousin is born in Greece and she has original birth certificate in Greek language. Can you let me know how do I get this translated into English? If she contacts the Greek Consulate, will their stamped letter giving the translation of Date of Birth will suffice for your office?
She has Cancer and has resigned from her professor job from the university as she is unable to work and go thru treatment.
In the meanwhile she applied for early SS benefit but wants to apply for disability.
Terri. B.
I am very disappointed that in all my 40 years of hard work; that I was denied. I have no need to constantly state my medical history in which they have a report of. I will continue to appeal in Jesus Christ Name 🙏.
Lord; you said in your WORD; we have not because we ask not, Father we keep asking in your Mighty and Gracious Name, but man has knocked us down time and time again to benefit from his own needs leaving your People without the necessary means to survive. I pray Lord; that you touch every heart, soul, body, mind and spirit of the employees of the SSA to do thy will in caring for your Sons & Daughters in Jesus Name. I know prayer changes things; so I’ll continue to pray for my Brothers & Sisters in Christ Jesus Name 🙏.
Judy A.
They don’t care. I know someone who was denied 4 times that has a heart condition. They need new people to work in Social security disability department that make the decisions in my opinion.
Pamela G.
What about Stroke victims that has been left disabled from the stroke? No memory, no motivational skills. Can’t work. Must be cared for 24 hours a day.
Christopher L.
I beleive a stroke should be ok as long as the medical records show thats true to the fact.
Gabe a.
My grandson has a disease where he gets tumors behind his eyes and in his spinal cord
Ed L.
Please stand up against these cruel DOGE bastards!
We are Americans & we always come together and help others in need of help.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Sherwin F.
I am a retired ALJ(Admin Law Judge). I was interested in a retiree position with OHA(Ofc Hearings & Appeals) but after a year of waiting was told the program to rehire some retirees was not going forward & it went nowhere. This is one example of why it takes so long to get u a decision on your disability claim: UNDERSTAFFED!!
Kerry s.
How do you help seniors over 65?? Who would I contact and how? Thanks Kerry Sommers
T.Y.
Thanks for reading our blog and for your question, Kerry. If you have low income and limited resources, you may be eligible to receive SSI in addition to your monthly Social Security Disability insurance (SSDI) benefit. SSI is a needs-based program that provides payments to people with limited income and resources who are age 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability. You can find more information on eligibility requirements for SSI here. We hope this helps.
Kelly D.
Yes, I am truly upset at the way my case was treated and denied all the way up to the courts. I applied in 2018 and last year was still denied. My cancer is listed on the compassionate allowance list by itself. Inflammatory Breast Cancer is 2% of all breast cancers, it’s extremely aggressive and quite often misdiagnosed as infected milk ducts etc. I discovered mine in January 2007 after seeing 3 different doctors was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer Stage 3B with 6 out of 9 lymph nodes positive estrogen positive Her2 positive. I am very blessed to be here today usually IBC when finally discovered is stage 4 with Mets and poor prognosis. It could be me again. But enduring many years of chemo poison Herceptin, Radiation, total mastectomy, total hysterectomy, treatments caused my Thyroid to shut down, osteoporosis of left hip, anxiety extreme depression I have never experienced in my life I cannot work. I hurt standing too long, sitting to long and can’t sleep anymore than approximately 4 to 5 hours if I’m lucky. I am left with a mutilated body especially in the breast area, I am forced to live my days in pain, little sleep, limited travel due to pain walking and pain sitting. I have health issues due to the surgeries and treatments. I was told by many during this past 6 plus years told NO NO you are obese and you can get my mail or wash dishes that I don’t qualify for disability compensation. I worked in this country since I was 17 years old and stopped working in August 2015. I would have gladly continued working, multitasking, pain free, non mutilated happy healthy woman in society. I earned my time from decades of working and my rare cancer could reignite at any time in my life moving forward so going thru 6 years of this even when I had a legitimate compassionate allowance disease on that list and provided every bit of records and documentation for my case just to be told I don’t qualify or deserve to be approved for disability compensation when I had a rare and aggressive breast cancer is totally unfair, disgusting especially when I see all the benefits provided to people who are here illegally or same sex couples get more benefits that a stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer patient is a new low for hard working Americans who don’t really want to ask for help but never imagined being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that came out of nowhere and since 6 of 9 lymph nodes positive at diagnosis and the type I had you most certainly can have a reoccurrence at any time. Remission is nothing but a word. So I have had to struggle and do without for years because we went from a two income household to a one income household since 2018. I did all the requested things and my application for disability compensation was never ever fast tracked even though I had a qualifying disease serious enough to be placed on the Compassionate Allowance List. I guess I have to have one foot in the grave or a stage 10 cancer to qualify while others get every benefit no questions asked. Thank you very much.
Anna N.
What nonsense. The system is a scam, making work a loser’s game for those who pay into SS and expect something back. Then there’s the game where the SSA gets proof of applicant’s disability but has lawyers waiting to take money from the disabled who may or may not get what they are fully insured for because they worked. Disabled people do not need lawyers when the proof is right there. I must say it is better for applicant to get the report in text and not a disk – which I believe is given to obscure the information.
William P.
William Hambel applied, was denied, met with Legal Aid Lawyer, and has proof of an appeal, which was filed in Nov., 2024 and hasn’t heard anything since. What to do??? He would appreciate your help in this matter.
Andwella
Yall are letting go staff indiscriminately and without cause. You are slowing down services. Don’t promise things you can’t do. Well you may do this but its gonna be much longer that in the past that even regular claims I bet.
Tony
Everyone knows the SSA is slow and inefficient. We need to fire more SSA employees.
The illegal immigrants can’t enter the U.S. and go to the local SSA office. We don’t need as many SSA local employees now.
It is taking 6 to 8 months for an initial medical determination and the local SSA employees don’t make medical decisions. We have millions of disability claimants calling the customer service for updates, but they won’t be able to give more information than what is available online.
We are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for SSA call center employees to answer the phone and provide no help to people calling for updates everyday.
If the claimants want to talk to a real person, then they should wait. If it is an emergency, then dail 911 for help.
We hired all these SSA call center employees who can’t make the disability determination process go any faster. The SSA isn’t hiring more ALJ and the State DDS isn’t hire anymore medical examiners, but the SSA is hiring more useless call center employees.
These useless call center employees are remote workers who Trump and Elon wants to fire anyways.
Sue K.
They don’t have enough people to decide on cases, that’s why it takes so long. They have plenty of administrative positions, that could be cut down, but not enough people who decide whether you are disabled or not and now that so many have been let go it’s going to take longer. You and your trump and musk. Smh. They are just messing this program up.
Freedom M.
The need to. I got a terrible representative the other day that absolutely knew nothing about my case, and all she had to do was probably open the file and read. She gave me false information, I was like wow wonder what’s really going on over there.