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Autoimmune Diseases Compassionate Allowances Hearing
Information provided by US Department of Social Security - Published: 2011-03-16
Social Security Holds Compassionate Allowances Hearing on Autoimmune Diseases.
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today hosted the agency’s seventh public hearing on Compassionate Allowances. Commissioner Astrue joined Robert H. Carter, Deputy Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and other Social Security officials in hearing testimony from some of the nation’s leading experts on autoimmune diseases about the possible methods of identifying and implementing Compassionate Allowances for adults and children with autoimmune diseases.
“Over 20 million Americans suffer from autoimmune conditions, which particularly affect women and children,” Commissioner Astrue said. “The social and financial burdens imposed by these chronic, debilitating diseases can be devastating for individuals and their families. With this hearing, we are searching for objective medical evidence and decision rules that we can use to expedite cases for those with the most severe conditions and quickly provide them with some measure of financial security.”
Social Security implemented Compassionate Allowances in October 2008 to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants with medical conditions so severe that their conditions by definition meet Social Security's standards. Currently, 88 specific diseases and conditions qualify as a Compassionate Allowance. To learn more and to view a web cast of this hearing, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.
“Last year, the Compassionate Allowances initiative, along with our Quick Disability Determination process, allowed us to quickly approve over 100,000 disability applications for the most severely disabled Americans,” said Commissioner Astrue. “This year we expect to increase the number of fast-tracked cases to about 150,000. We also plan to expand our list of Compassionate Allowance conditions later this year, bringing it to about 100 conditions.”
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 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.
Commissioner Astrue has held six 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, and schizophrenia. Most recently, a sixth hearing was held in Baltimore on cardiovascular disease and multiple organ transplants.
The initial list of Compassionate Allowances conditions was developed as a result of information received at public outreach hearings, public comment on an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, comments received from the Social Security and Disability Determination Service communities, and the counsel of medical and scientific experts. Also, we considered which conditions are most likely to meet our current definition of disability.
The expanded list of conditions was developed by holding additional public outreach hearings, working closely with the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and other groups. We also reviewed information gathered from previous hearings and consulted with our internal expert medical staff.
On March 16, 2011, Commissioner Astrue will hold the seventh Compassionate Allowances Outreach hearing in downtown Baltimore, MD at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel in the International Ballroom. The subject of the hearing is autoimmune disease.
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- This web page is from the Disabled World US Social Security Disability section which provides: Information on US social security disability benefits SSDI including pensions and assistance programs for seniors and certain family members.
- Quick Processing of Social Security Disability Claims
- Compassionate Allowances Hearing on Cardiovascular Disease and Multiple Organ Transplants
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