Hearing from a medical professional that you are diagnosed with a serious medical condition is life-altering news. Suddenly, your world pauses and you think about what this really means. Is there a cure? What medical procedures will I need to undergo? Will I be able to maintain my normal life? How will I afford medical treatment? While these questions can be daunting and stressful, obtaining benefits from Social Security disability can reduce them.
With regards to severe medical diseases, the Compassionate Allowances program is very beneficial for applicants in Florida and nationwide recently diagnosed with such an illness. This program was designed to help streamline the SSD program for these applicants, ensuring they get timely approved so benefits can be used as quickly as possible. Based one recent reports, the acting commissioner of Social Security Administration just announced that three new conditions were added to the Compassionate Allowances program.
These three conditions include CACH vanishing White Matter Disease in both the infantile and childhood onset forms, Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy and Kleefstra Syndrome. With these and other conditions listed in this program, the Compassionate Allowances allow for the SSA to quickly identify serious diseases, helping to assess an applicant’s eligibility for disability benefits.
This program helps fast-track the process for those suffering from diseases that are certain or near-certain to be approved for SSD benefits. In most cases, a medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone is enough to be approved. As of now, there are 228 conditions listed in this program, and to date, roughly 500,000 applicants have been approved though this fast-track program.
Living with a serious disease is not only devastating, but it could also limit a person’s ability to enjoy life. Thus, it is important to understand what benefits are available and what process is required. Social Security disability benefits can serve a very important and vital role, and in many cases, this financial assistance is necessary for applicants.
Source: Disabled-world.com, “New Conditions Added to U.S. Social Security Disability Benefits Compassionate Allowances List,” Sept. 8, 2017