Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 52 new Compassionate Allowances conditions, primarily involving neurological disorders, cancers and rare diseases. The Compassionate Allowances program fast-tracks disability decisions to ensure that Americans with the most serious disabilities receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years. Commissioner Astrue made the announcement during his remarks at the World Orphan Drug Congress near Washington, D.C.

“Social Security will continue to work with the medical community and patient organizations to add more conditions,” Commissioner Astrue said. “With our Compassionate Allowances program, we quickly approved disability benefits for nearly 61,000 people with severe disabilities in the past fiscal year, and nearly 173,000 applications since the program began.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims where the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions.

Social Security launched the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions. The announcement of 52 new conditions, effective in August, will increase the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 165. The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, immune system conditions, and other disorders. In his speech that opened the Congress, Commissioner Astrue thanked the National Institutes of Health for research they conducted which helped identify many of the conditions added to the list.

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions:

Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome

Alobar Holoprosencephaly

Alpers Disease

Alpha Mannosidosis

Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site

Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis

Child Neuroblastoma

Child Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Chondrosarcoma with multimodal therapy

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome-Classic Form

Ewings Sarcoma

Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma with metastases

Fucosidosis – Type 1

Galactosialidosis – Early Infantile Type

Glioma Grade III and IV

Hallervorden-Spatz Disease

Hepatoblastoma

Histiocytosis

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Hydranencephaly

Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis

Hypophosphatasia Perinatal lethal Form

I Cell disease

Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease

Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease

Kufs Disease Type A and B

Lissencephaly

Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis Grade III

Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas–Childhood

Malignant Melanoma with metastases

Mastocytosis Type IV

Medulloblastoma with metastasis

Merkel Cell Carcinoma with metastases

Myocolonic Epilepsy

Ragged Red Fibers Syndrome

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis

Obliterative Bronchiolitis

Ohtahara Syndrome

Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with Pigmented Glia

Pearson Syndrome

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease Classic Form

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease Connatal Form

Peripheral Nerve Cancer metastatic or recurrent

Perry Syndrome

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata

Schindler Disease Type 1

Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome

Spinal Nerve Root Cancer- metastatic or recurrent

Stiff Person Syndrome

Tabes Dorsalis

Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances

please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

Social Security Announces Nationwide Launch of Compassionate Allowances

Process Will Fast Track Applications For People with Cancers and Rare Diseases

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, on October 27, 2008 announced the national rollout of the agency’s Compassionate Allowances initiative, a way to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants whose medical conditions are so severe that their conditions obviously meet Social Security’s standards.

Getting benefits quickly to people with the most severe medical conditions is both the right and the compassionate thing to do, Commissioner Astrue said.  This initiative will allow us to make decisions on these cases in a matter of days, rather than months or years.

Social Security is launching this expedited decision process with a total of 50 conditions. Over time, more diseases and conditions will be added. A list of the first 50 impairments — 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers — can be found at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

Before announcing this initiative, Social Security held public hearings to receive information from experts on rare diseases and cancers. The agency also enlisted the assistance of the National Institutes of Health.

Compassionate Allowances is the second piece of the agency’s two-track, fast-track system for certain disability claims. When combined with the agency’s Quick Disability Determination process, and once fully implemented, this two-track system could result in six to nine percent of disability claims, the cases for as much as a quarter million people, being decided in an average of six to eight days.

“This is an outstanding achievement for the Social Security Administration,” said Peter Saltonstall, President of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. “It has taken Social Security less than a year to develop this much-needed program that will benefit those whose claims merit expedited consideration based on the nature of their disease. Disability backlogs cause a hardship for patients and their families. Commissioner Astrue and his staff deserve our thanks for a job well done.

Unfortunately, many hardworking people with cancer may not only face intensive treatment to save their lives, but they may also find themselves truly unable to perform their daily work-related activities and as result, may face serious financial concerns, such as the loss of income and the cost of treatment, said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.  The Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances program will help streamline the disability benefits application process so that benefits are quickly provided to those who need them most.

This is America, and it simply is not acceptable for people to wait years for a final decision on a disability claim, Commissioner Astrue said.  I am committed to a process that is as fair and speedy as possible. The launch of Compassionate Allowances is another step to ensuring Americans with disabilities, especially those with certain cancers and rare diseases, get the benefits they need quickly.