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Compassionate Allowances Mean Faster Social Security Disability Benefits
The SSA is increasingly turning to a new tool to expedite the process for applicants whose conditions clearly meet disability standards: the Compassionate Allowances list.
January 07, 2012 /Industry PR News/ -- The Social Security Administration ("SSA") must walk a thin line when it comes to dispensing disability benefits. On the one hand, disabled workers and their families desperately need cash to keep them afloat during what is likely a very difficult time. But, on the other, the SSA has a responsibility to taxpayers to ensure benefits are distributed only to those who are truly unable to work.
Faced with a historic backlog of 3.2 million claims in 2011, the SSA is increasingly turning to a new tool to expedite the process for applicants whose conditions clearly meet disability standards: the Compassionate Allowances list.
Expedited Claims Processing For Those with Certain Conditions
Prior to 2008, every Social Security Disability ("SSD") applicant faced the same lengthy claim process, part of which was proving the existence of a medical condition so severe that it interfered with the ability to work. Almost uniformly, this meant months or years before even a severely disabled applicant received his or her first disability check.
In the public sphere, more and more attention became focused on the shortcomings of the SSD process. What good was the SSA doing by promising benefits in two years to a terminally-ill patient with only a year left to live? Thousands of applicants faced delays in getting benefits when they needed them the most.
In response, the SSA created Compassionate Allowances. A Compassionate Allowance is a special shortcut through the SSD application process that can help disabled workers get benefits in weeks rather than years.
Initially, the Compassionate Allowances Listing of Impairments contained 50 conditions; as of July, 2011, with the addition of 12 new diseases pertaining primarily to severe forms of heart disease, the total has swelled to 100. If an applicant can provide minimal objective medical evidence that he or she suffers from one of the conditions on the list, he or she is automatically considered disabled. Assuming other eligibility criteria are met, this means SSD payments will commence almost immediately.
An SSD Attorney Can Help You Get Benefits
The original listing of 50 rare diseases and cancers on the first Compassionate Allowances list grew by 38 in 2010, and another 12 in 2011; more conditions could be added in the future.
If you are seeking SSD benefits, whether your condition is on the list or not, your odds of being approved for benefits in a timely fashion can be dramatically improved by retaining the services of a qualified attorney. An attorney can help ensure you receive the full amount of benefits you are entitled to.
Article provided by Pulgini & Norton LLP
Visit us at www.pulgininorton.com
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