My earlier article suggested that the Compassionate Allowance program would be administered by your state’s Disability Determination Services (DDS) office.
However, new information shows that the Compassionate Allowance program can be used at any stage of the administrative process. That would be any stage before the case goes to Federal Court, including the application, appeal, hearing, even at the Appeals Council.
If a claimant is diagnosed with any of the 50 currently eligible conditions, ask to have the case flagged for fast-track processing under the Compassionate Allowance program.
Have you tried the Compassionate Allowance program? Leave a comment and tell us how it worked out.
CAN YOU PLEASE KEEP A SHORT PARAGRAPH ONSITE , AS SIDEBAR PERHAPS, RE DEFINING WHAT COMPASSIONATE ALLOWANCE PRGRM IS…………AND ELEIGIBILITY REQUIRIEMENTS?
For more information about the Compassionate Allowance program, just click the two links in the article (copied below). The first one goes to the original article discussing Compassionate Allowances and what they are. The second link goes to the SSA site on Compassionate Allowances.
http://www.socialsecurityinsider.com/2008/10/so...
http://ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/compassionate-all...
These links should answer your question on what Compassionate Allowances are and the eligibility requirements. If not, post a comment with what you would like to know.
Published Information says the Compassionate Allowance procedure should take days not months. It also says the examiner should call doctors not wait for reports by mail. It also says a Regional Management Officer (RMO) should be assigned to each case and monitor it to make sure the CAL procedures are being followed.
My Compassionate Allowance case has been 3 months with no decision in site. When I call the examiner she does not know anything about the items I listed above. Who can we contact to make sure the CAL process is even being used.
Can you provide a link to the published information you mention?
Published Information says the Compassionate Allowance procedure should take days not months. It also says the examiner should call doctors not wait for reports by mail. It also says a Regional Management Officer (RMO) should be assigned to each case and monitor it to make sure the CAL procedures are being followed.
My Compassionate Allowance case has been 3 months with no decision in site. When I call the examiner she does not know anything about the items I listed above. Who can we contact to make sure the CAL process is even being used.
Can you provide a link to the published information you mention?
A. Definition of a QDD case
A QDD case is an initial Electronic Disability Collect System (EDCS) case identified electronically by a Predictive Model (PM) as having a high degree of probability that:
the claimant is disabled;
evidence of the claimant’s allegations is expected to be easily and quickly verified; and
the case can be processed quickly by the disability determination services (DDS).
B. Process of QDD
The QDD process goes beyond Terminal Illness (TERI) and Presumptive Disability/Blindness (PD/PB) criteria to identify applicants with clearly disabling conditions whose medical evidence is readily available. With such applicants, a fully-favorable determination should be made quickly after receipt in the DDS (recommended timeframe is 20 days or less). A predictive model (PM) is used to identify QDD cases. A unique threshold selection, using scoring criteria, is set by the PM for each DDS which means that similar cases may or may not be identified as QDD cases depending on the DDS processing the case.
QDD cases are:
Identified electronically at clearance from the FO by EDCS and upon receipt by the DDS's automated case processing system;
Assigned to designated disability examiners who have the knowledge, training, and experience to effectively carry out the QDD process;
Processed as expedited cases; and
Able to be designated simultaneously as a TERI, PD/PB and/or a Compassionate Allowance (CAL) claim to ensure continued priority handling if the case is removed from the QDD process.
Like TERI and PD/PB cases; full non-medical development must be initiated in the FO for a QDD case.
pdxpj says: I found this before looking at your site. Is this what dgbehart is talking about? I need this 20 day process too, for my breadwinner husband who has an end stage, rapidly progressing cancer. Wish you were in Portland, OR…..I could use your help!
Thanks for the comment! I am adding your link to make it easier for others to go to the source on this: http:/policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/links/0423022010
There is also a lot more information about the Compassionate Allowance program in the Social Security regulations: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0423...
Or, just click http://bit.ly/coY3pm
Lots of good stuff here like:
– Compassionate Allowance (CAL) and Quick Disability Determination (QDD): Similarities and Differences
– Identifying and Receipting Quick Disability Determination (QDD) and Compassionate Allowance (CAL) Cases
However, these are *internal* regulations — which means they are very dry and contain a lot of terms and acronyms geared for Social Security employees.