The Social Security Administration said Tuesday that it is adding 14 conditions to its fast-track disability list, which can help people with these conditions speed up the process of receiving benefits. The program, known as the Compassionate Allowance List, was created in 2008 to expedite disability applications for people with rare, life-threatening or other serious medical conditions. The list, which counting added illnesses now includes 314 conditions, has helped 1.2 million people receive approval for disability benefits, the agency said Tuesday. Social Security uses technology to scan disability applications for conditions on the compassionate allowances list, and those applications often receive approval within days, according to a law firm. A typical disability application can take six to eight months to receive approval, the Social Security Administration said. “The Compassionate Allowances initiative eliminates bureaucracy and allows us to provide support to people who are experiencing life-changing diagnoses and need help quickly,” Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in a statement. The new conditions include rare pediatric and neurological disorders, such as Aicardi syndrome, a genetic condition that primarily affects girls, and some rare cancers, such as primary cardiac sarcoma. These are the new conditions added to the Social Security Administration list: Adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency: neonatal form and type 1 Aicardi syndrome Baraitser-Winter syndrome Beare-Stevenson syndrome cutis gyrata Bohring-Opitz syndrome CASK-related genetic disorders Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma LaforaMalignant partial migratory seizures of childhood (MMPSI)OPHN1 syndromePrimary cardiac sarcomaPrimary intracranial malignant melanomaUveal melanoma – with metastasis Warburg microsyndrome Edited by Alain Sherter More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press In:
