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Are You Unable to Wait for the Usual Time to Get Disability Benefits?

If your medical condition is extremely severe or aggressive, you may not have to wait for the many months, or longer, that it usually takes to get approved for Social Security Disability benefits.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) established the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 to help people in your situation. If your diagnosis is on their Compassionate Allowances List (CAL), it automatically meets the SSA’s standards for disability benefits—which normally require a complicated process to prove—and your application will be fast-tracked through the system.

You probably have questions:

  • What is covered on the Compassionate Allowances List (CAL)?
  • How do compassionate allowances work?
  • How do I apply for a compassionate allowance?

When you’re suffering from an acute condition, and you can’t work and make an income, disability benefits can be a great financial relief.

An experienced Social Security Disability lawyer can help you determine whether you may qualify for a compassionate allowance and what types of medical evidence you’ll need to submit.

They’ll help you with your application and guide you through Social Security’s steps so you can get the benefits you deserve without unnecessary delays.

In South Carolina, board-certified Social Security Disability attorney Robertson Wendt and his team can help you with your disability application and getting a compassionate allowance.

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What Is on the Compassionate Allowances List?

More than 250 conditions are eligible for the compassionate allowances program, and the SSA updates the list regularly.

Examples of qualifying conditions include several types of cancers like pancreatic and non-small cell lung cancer, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-Adult.

Generally, these conditions have some things in common:

  • The condition is severe or aggressive.
  • It impacts life expectancy (though doesn’t have to be considered terminal).
  • It impacts the central nervous system.
  • It is potentially inoperable or recurrent.
  • It prevents you from working (as with all impairments that qualify for benefits).

Processing time for CAL conditions averages 10-19 days, as opposed to 3-5 months (or more) for other disability claims.

You still have to contend with a built-in waiting period for all Social Security Disability cases before your benefits start paying. The waiting period requirement is five months from the date Social Security determined that you first qualified for benefits.

But that date is already in the past once you’re approved, and sometimes it can be far enough back that you get credit for some or all of the required wait.

Your monthly disability checks are also retroactive. You’re entitled to back pay for the period between the onset of your disability and approval of your application.

In addition to the monthly income assistance, Social Security Disability benefits give you access to Medicare health coverage. For that, you have a 24-month wait from the date your disability officially began. Time already passed also counts toward that wait.

Exceptions to the 24-month waiting period for Medicare benefits are ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and End-Stage Renal Disease.

Every person’s situation is different. In South Carolina, you can find out more about exactly what your case might involve by getting a free consultation with the team at Robertson Wendt Disability.

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There’s No Special Application for Compassionate Allowances

To get a compassionate allowance, you don’t have to do anything special. You just apply for Social Security Disability benefits, and the SSA system will automatically flag your application for the compassionate allowances program.

But when we say you “just” need to apply for SSD benefits, we aren’t saying it’s an easy process.

The SSA has many rules and regulations, forms and requirements. It’s complicated, and unless you work with it every day, it can be confusing and frustrating. It’s easy to make a mistake that will slow down the whole process.

If your physician has diagnosed you with a CAL condition, that’s the first step. Your next step should be to contact a Social Security Disability lawyer who can help you make a strong application and gather the medical evidence you’ll need to support your case for a compassionate allowance.

South Carolina disability attorney Rob Wendt makes it his mission to help people with major health problems be able to rest easier because of financial assistance from Social Security.

Rob is one of only three board-certified Social Security Disability attorneys in the state of South Carolina.

We promise to bring respect and dignity to your case, so you can get more peace in your life.

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