Dealing with large government bureaucracies is rarely fun, especially Social Security. That makes this information provided by AARP’s article, “Discover Little-Known Social Security Benefits,” especially welcome.
Some years ago, Social Security officials saw that the long waiting time for decisions on disability applications resulted in severe hardship for the seriously ill. As a consequence, the agency established the Compassionate Allowances List.
This program’s goal is to swiftly grant disability status to those who suffer from any of the 225 serious medical conditions on the list. They include rare diseases, cancers, traumatic brain injury, stroke, early onset Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease, multiple organ transplants and autoimmune diseases. The Social Security Administration says those who can show they suffer from any of these afflictions will receive approval in weeks (rather than months or years).