Social Security Compassionate Allowance List
Social Security Disability Compassionate Allowance List
Compassionate allowances is a system where the Social Security Administration (SSA) expedites the disability applications of adults and children whose medical conditions are so severe that they meet Social Security's standards for disability benefits. There are now 228 conditions on the Compassionate Allowances List (CAL), including certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children. Applications on the compassionate allowance track are usually processed within days, versus the 3-5 month wait time for regular applications.
How Do I Apply for a Compassionate Allowance?
You cannot apply for Compassionate Allowance. Rather, the Social Security Administration reviews all disability applications to see which ones qualify as compassionate allowances. The SSA uses the same rules to evaluate CAL conditions when evaluating both Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs.
Here is a complete list of CAL impairments:
- Acute Leukemia
- Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Adult Onset Huntington Disease
- Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome
- Alexander Disease (ALX) - Neonatal and Infantile
- Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome
- Alobar Holoprosencephaly
- Alpers Disease
- Alpha Mannosidosis - Type II and III
- ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex
- Alstrom Syndrome
- Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
- Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer - Adult with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Angelman Syndrome
- Angiosarcoma
- Aortic Atresia
- Aplastic Anemia
- Astrocytoma - Grade III and IV
- Ataxia Telangiectasia
- Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
- Batten Disease
- Beta Thalassemia Major
- Bilateral Optic Atrophy- Infantile
- Bilateral Retinoblastoma
- Bladder Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Breast Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Canavan Disease (CD)
- CACH--Vanishing White Matter Disease-Infantile and Childhood Onset Forms (Effective 9/16/2017)
- Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site
- Cardiac Amyloidosis- AL Type
- Caudal Regression Syndrome - Types III and IV
- Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
- Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis
- Child Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
- Child Lymphoma
- Child Neuroblastoma - with distant metastases or recurrent
- Chondrosarcoma - with multimodal therapy
- Chronic Idiopathic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - Blast Phase
- Coffin-Lowry Syndrome
- Congenital Lymphedema
- Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy (Effective 9/16/2017)
- Cornelia de Lange Syndrome - Classic Form
- Corticobasal Degeneration
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – Adult
- Cri du Chat Syndrome
- Degos Disease - Systemic
- DeSanctis Cacchione Syndrome
- Dravet Syndrome
- Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
- Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18)
- Eisenmenger Syndrome
- Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma
- Endomyocardial Fibrosis
- Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Cancer)
- Erdheim Chester Disease
- Esophageal Cancer
- Esthesioneuroblastoma
- Ewing Sarcoma
- Farber Disease (FD) – Infantile
- Fatal Familial Insomnia
- Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
- Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma - metastatic or recurrent
- Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
- Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A – Adult
- Fryns Syndrome
- Fucosidosis - Type 1
- Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Fulminant Giant Cell Myocarditis
- Galactosialidosis - Early and Late Infantile Types
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Gaucher Disease (GD) - Type 2
- Giant Axonal Neuropathy
- Glioblastoma Multiforme (Brain Cancer)
- Glioma Grade III and IV
- Glutaric Acidemia - Type II
- Head and Neck Cancers - with distant metastasis or inoperable or unresectable
- Heart Transplant Graft Failure
- Heart Transplant Wait List - 1A/1B
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) - Familial Type
- Hepatoblastoma
- Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
- Hepatorenal Syndrome
- Histiocytosis Syndromes
- Hoyeaal-Hreidarsson Syndrome
- Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
- Hydranencephaly
- Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis Syndrome
- Hypophosphatasia Perinatal (Lethal) and Infantile Onset Types
- Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
- I Cell Disease
- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease
- Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
- Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
- Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma
- Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome
- Joubert Syndrome
- Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa - Lethal Type
- Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease
- Kidney Cancer - inoperable or unresectable
- Kleefstra Syndrome (Effective 9/16/2017)
- Krabbe Disease (KD) – Infantile
- Kufs Disease - Type A and B
- Large Intestine Cancer - with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent>
- Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- Leigh’s Disease
- Leiomyosarcoma
- Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis
- Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
- Lewy Body Dementia
- Liposarcoma - metastatic or recurrent
- Lissencephaly
- Liver Cancer
- Lowe Syndrome
- Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis - Grade III
- Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas – Childhood
- Malignant Ectomesenchymoma
- Malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
- Malignant Germ Cell Tumor
- Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
- Malignant Renal Rhabdoid Tumor
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
- Maple Syrup Urine Disease
- Marshall-Smith Syndrome
- Mastocytosis - Type IV
- MECP2 Duplication Syndrome
- Medulloblastoma - with metastases
- Menkes Disease - Classic or Infantile Onset Form
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma - with metastases
- Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) - Late Infantile
- Mitral Valve Atresia
- Mixed Dementias
- MPS I, formerly known as Hurler Syndrome
- MPS II, formerly known as Hunter Syndrome
- MPS III, formerly known as Sanfilippo Syndrome
- Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
- Multicentric Castleman Disease
- Multiple System Atrophy
- Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers Syndrome
- Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis
- Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation - Types 1 and 2
- NFU-1 Mitochondrial Disease
- Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) - Type A
- Niemann-Pick Disease-Type C
- Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Obliterative Bronchiolitis
- Ohtahara Syndrome
- Oligodendroglioma Brain Cancer- Grade III
- Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
- Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with Pigmented Glia
- Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) - Type II
- Osteosarcoma, formerly known as Bone Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Ovarian Cancer – with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Pallister-Killian Syndrome
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
- Patau Syndrome (Trisomy 13)
- Pearson Syndrome
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease-Classic Form
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease-Connatal Form
- Peripheral Nerve Cancer - metastatic or recurrent
- Peritoneal Mesothelioma
- Peritoneal Mucinous Carcinomatosis
- Perry Syndrome
- Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
- Pleural Mesothelioma
- Pompe Disease – Infantile
- Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
- Primary Effusion Lymphoma
- Primary Progressive Aphasia
- Progressive Bulbar Palsy
- Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
- Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
- Prostate Cancer - Hormone Refractory Disease – or with visceral metastases
- Pulmonary Atresia
- Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
- Retinopathy of Prematurity - Stage V
- Rett (RTT) Syndrome
- Revesz Syndrome
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
- Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata
- Roberts Syndrome
- Salivary Cancers
- Sandhoff Disease
- Schindler Disease - Type 1
- Seckel Syndrome
- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency - Childhood
- Single Ventricle
- Sinonasal Cancer
- Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome
- Skin Malignant Melanoma with Metastases
- Small Cell Cancer (Large Intestine, Prostate or Thymus)
- Small Cell Cancer of the Female Genital Tract
- Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Small Intestine Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome
- Soft Tissue Sarcoma - with distant metastases or recurrent
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - Types 0 and 1
- Spinal Nerve Root Cancer-metastatic or recurrent
- Spinocerebellar Ataxia
- Stiff Person Syndrome
- Stomach Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis
- Tabes Dorsalis
- Tay Sachs Disease - Infantile Type
- Thanatophoric Dysplasia - Type 1
- Thyroid Cancer
- Transplant Coronary Artery Vasculopathy
- Tricuspid Atresia
- Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Ureter Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Usher Syndrome - Type I
- Ventricular Assist Device Recipient - Left, Right, or Biventricular
- Walker Warburg Syndrome
- Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome
- Wolman Disease
- X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disease
- X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy
- Xeroderma Pigmentosum
- Zellweger Syndrome