Upon submitting your application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, you may be wondering whether your certain physical or mental condition makes you more or less inclined to get approval. Continue reading to learn whether your medical condition qualifies for a compassionate allowance and how an experienced attorney of SSDI eligibility in New Jersey, at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur, can help you make this determination.
By definition, what is a compassionate allowance?
Put simply, the Social Security Administration (SSA) defines eligibility for a compassionate allowance as a medical condition that is so severe that it obviously meets their standards for SSDI benefits. And so, the SSA has a compassionate allowance program in place to expedite the processing of serious claims. With this, they will quickly process such applications or appeals at any level.
How is this different from quick disability determinations?
On the other hand, the SSA deciphers a compassionate allowance for a quick disability determination. That is, a quick disability determination is one in which discovering a disability is thought to be a strong likelihood. And so, a “strong likelihood” is different from the “certainty” that comes with the serious if not terminal medical conditions that fall under a compassionate allowance.
How do I know if my medical condition qualifies for a compassionate allowance?
First of all, there are approximately 100 compassionate allowance conditions that are observed by the SSA. But you should know that most of these medical conditions that qualify for a compassionate allowance are rare diseases or cancers. Examples of such are as follows:
- Acute leukemia.
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
- Brain cancer.
- Esophageal cancer.
- Gallbladder cancer.
- Non-small cell or small cell lung cancer.
- Ovarian cancer.
- Thyroid cancer.
- Cancers with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent.
- Certain lymphoma types.
- Malignant tumors.
However, the SSA recently added new compassionate allowance conditions to this list. Notably, the majority of these are related to special heart conditions. Therefore, you may still qualify under any of the following circumstances:
- You are an individual who has suffered from aortic artesia.
- You are an individual who has suffered from Eisenmenger syndrome.
- You are an individual who has suffered from endomyocardial fibrosis.
- You are an individual who has suffered from a heart transplant graft failure.
- You are an individual who has suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
- You are an individual who has suffered from mitral valve atresia.
- You are an individual who has suffered from primary cardiac amyloidosis.
- You are an individual who has suffered from pulmonary atresia.
- You are an individual who has suffered from tricuspid atresia.
- You are an individual who is on the heart transplant waitlist -1A/1B.
- You are an individual who is a left ventricular assist device recipient.
- You are an individual who has a single ventricle.
If you are still unsure about your qualifications, then you must reach out to a skilled SSDI eligibility attorney today.
