We Can Fast-Track Disability Decisions for People With Severe Conditions
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: April 18, 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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Jenai J.
This is not fast tracked at all. I applied back in December for my son who is 12 years old with a very rare disease that affects his kidneys, which here only has one left and it’s a stage three a, it affects his heart. He’s a hypertension, it affects his eating. It affects his breathing he’s deaf and both of his ears. It affects his eyes his immune system. . I’ve got denied. I went through the process of appeal that I did the research on my own because the Butte County Chico office does nothing to help people or explain anything. So I submitted a dire need letter attaching more and more proof and I’m just still here waiting. I can’t work because he’s constantly sick and I lose jobs. They’ve already taken my car. I have an eviction notice like come on are you kidding me? Why do we have to go through all these loopholes just to get what’s rightfully supposed to be available to us? I’m a single mom for crying out loud. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. The county only helps so much. I mean this Chico California office is terrible. They’re calling people’s names out loud in the lobby with the reasoning of why they’re there isn’t that a violation of privacy?
Laurie k.
I applied for disability in October 2021. They denied me a year later in September 2023. I’ve been waiting almost two years for my reconsiderstion. And 4 years total. Is there anyone else in the same boat, waiting years? If so what did you do about it, did you contacte anyone to help,
Feeling very frustrated.
Marcos E.
Same here! Been waiting for 2-3 years now, I had my court hearing in May, I called the hearings office about a month ago and got told the judge was on “vacation”. Month later. Still not decision. It’s actually sad how long they take to make decision when there are ppl like me who truly can’t work currently and have things needed to be paid
Dianna F.
My daughter is stage 4 cancer- Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma. Battling for over 12 years now. She has lost Left Kidney, part of right Kidney, whole lower right rib in order to get to cancer, part of pancreas and her Gallbladder. Constant pain. She has been working her whole life- not lazy. She was turned down. She hired an attorney… SS just turned her down again today. She can not work anymore. She’s already lost her car and they are living on her husbands disability from the Military. Trying to hang on to their house. I went back to work to help – I’m almost 71. For gods sake, she’s dying. STAGE 4 CANCER.
Ditto
I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s denial. I don’t have the same medical condition, but I have 21 years of medical history that can attest to my diagnosis and reason I can’t work. I’m hoping since they’ve stopped paying people that are 120-140 years old, they can approve those of us with valid claims.
Jenai
Keep fighting I’m so sorry! My son is in 12 and we’ve been fighting too. He’s a 1% rare genetic disease with many mutated variants and reoccurring sis that keep coming back that shouldn’t be coming back. He’s napping both of his ears down now down to one kidney, which is a 3B. hypertension, skin disorder, not producing healthy cells to give back good ones for bone so he’s having problems there also and this disease affects his whole body. Their whole blue book black book is a lie everything that’s on it. He should’ve been automatically approved for the same with your daughter. I hold Social Security administrative accountable for not doing their jobs and not flagging it correctly at the initial interview
Nimal S.
My ex is so n a cult, and iut of the country and she will not return. We were married for 19 years. She does not talk to our kids nor me. My daughter needs mother and financial support.
Can my kid get a legal guardianship and receive the SS benefits by virtue of out being married together for iver 10 years?
Or what is the alternative way she can get her IEDS benefits? Thank you
Peter M.
I’ve been waiting for my benefits for over 4 months. I won my appeal and they told me 30 days or less. Every time i call they just string me along. My mental health is 100 times worse now because of this. How busy can they be? I just called last week and they said they are doing a manager to manager call as we speak and i should hear back in 24 to 48 hrs and here we are a week later and still here nothing. I haven’t had an income in a year and 10 months now and just had to put my house up for sale. Did I mention i also have a child??
Anna M.
I’m 66 and on SS and SSI. My friend 70 on SS and a $300 a month retirement income. We’ve talked about marriage lately. Would getting married cause my SSI income to go down?
Envie
SSA
WHY didn’t the SSA call any disability person to have an appointment for providing a Signing Language and leave the message to that disabled person? That disabled person didn’t see any ID caller of SSA, however there was many phone numbers with NO ID callers. How did that disabled person know what date and time without ID caller? Scammers and Hackers keep calling that disabled person who will NOT answer. That disabled person saw the ID caller of SSA to tell ones to forget about having an appointment at 10:00am this morning, when ones got up lately. That disabled person was shocked and confused.
Amy
I had alot of work credits towards disability I applied spent years trying to get approved even though I clearly couldnt work and still cant now im stuck today living off my husbands va and ss what he beings in and I cant contribute I even teied to uber but I just am unable too. I feel so sick about this because now I have nothing