Any person struggling with a physical or mental disability can be faced with some significant obstacles, from taking care of themselves to seeking effective treatment. When a person is unable to continue working due to a disabling condition, these obstacles can be even more challenging if a person is not taking home a paycheck.
Many people in this situation may be eligible to receive financial support through Social Security. Unfortunately, the process of applying for these benefits is notoriously slow, frustrating and complicated. Thankfully, the Social Security Administration is aware of these issues and has made it a little easier for at least one group of people to collect benefits in a timely manner by establishing the Compassionate Allowances Program, or CAL.
We recently explored how the CAL program works in an article on our site. Readers who are interested in how eligible CAL applicants are identified and what benefits may be secured through this program can access that article by clicking here.
One thing that we note in the article is that there are currently 88 conditions that are included in the CAL program. In this post, we will look at what some of these conditions are. According to the list of CAL conditions provided by the Social Security Administration, these afflictions include:
- Amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
- Many types of cancer, including breast, bladder, esophageal, gallbladder, intestine, liver, lung, bone, kidney, ovarian, pancreatic, nerve, prostate, sinonasal, stomach and thyroid
- Malignant multiple sclerosis
- Fatal familial insomnia
- Hydranencephaly
- Lewy Body Dementia
- Mixed dementias
- Pleural mesothelioma
- Infantile-onset Tay Sachs Disease
People who suffer from these and other conditions that can be covered by the CAL program may be able to get their applications for Social Security disability benefits fast-tracked so that they can start getting the benefits they need as quickly as possible.
However, a person will still need to complete a full application for these benefits from the SSA. In order to avoid any further unnecessary delays, those who suffer from any severe condition can work with an attorney in order to ensure their application is completed in full and in a timely manner.
Source: Social Security Administration, “Compassionate Allowances Conditions,” accessed on Sept. 29, 2014
