Compassionate Allowances

The Social Security Administration has released a list of "Compassionate Allowances." According to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/ “Compassionate allowances 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 will allow Social Security to quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information that we can obtain quickly.”

There are 50 conditions on the list; the most notable is “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” (ALS). The list was compiled after public hearings. A public hearing will be held to hopefully add another Diagnosis to this list: Brain Injuries - November 18, 2008.

I agree with Charles Hall that “ALS” is a very welcome part of this list but beyond it, the others have not been encountered by me in my twenty plus years practicing Social Security Disability. You can view Mr. Hall’s comments at SOCIAL SECURITY NEWS through the following link.