Compassionate Allowances

Social Security has an obligation to provide benefits quickly to applicants whose medical conditions are so serious that their conditions obviously meet disability standards.

Compassionate Allowances (CAL) are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. Compassionate Allowances allow Social Security to quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information that we can obtain quickly.

CAL conditions are developed as a result of information received at public outreach hearings, comments received from the Social Security and Disability Determination Service communities, counsel of medical and scientific experts, and our research with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Also, we considered which conditions are most likely to meet our current definition of disability.

Commissioner Astrue has held seven Compassionate Allowances public outreach hearings. The hearings were on rare diseases, cancers, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke, early-onset Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease and multiple organ transplants and autoimmune diseases.

On October 13, 2011, Commissioner Astrue announced 13 new conditions to the Compassionate Allowances list, taking the list of conditions to 113.  These conditions involve neurological, mental, and immune system disorders.  The 13 conditions are effective on December 10, 2011.  Please click on the Complete List of Compassionate Allowances Conditions to view the names of the new conditions.

Commissioner Astrue also announced a small grants program for graduate students to improve the disability determination process, including the Compassionate Allowances initiative.  SSA awarded approximately $1.5 million grant over a five-year period to Policy Research Incorporated (PRI).  The Disability Determination Process Small Grant program will make small stipends available to graduate students for innovative research relevant to the disability program.  You can find details and the application forms at:  http://www.policyresearchinc.org/projects/ddp_grant.shtml

Additional information about how compassionate allowances are processed

You may submit written comments about the Compassionate Allowances Initiative to: Compassionate.Allowances@ssa.gov