It can be a scary time if your adult child has suddenly come down with a condition that has resulted in a serious disability, particularly if you do not earn enough to pay for your child’s treatment and other needs. This is where Social Security Disability Insurance may be of assistance. However, you may worry that the application process will take too long and you will not even receive approval for your child.
According to the Social Security website, there is a way the Social Security Administration might expedite your application. The Compassionate Allowances program may determine that your child’s illness or disability warrants speedy approval for benefits.
About the Compassionate Allowances Program
The SSA instituted the Compassionate Allowances program so it can reduce the time it takes to approve benefits for certain conditions. Many of these conditions involve ailments that can seriously degrade or impair a person’s health and/or lead to death. Some examples include specific kinds of cancer, adult brain disorders, and rare conditions that children may contract. If the disease meets the SSA’s statutory standard for disability, your child should receive benefits more quickly than standard applicants.
Applying for an unlisted illness
The SSA has a long list of conditions that qualify for the Compassionate Allowances program on its website. However, you might notice that your child’s illness is not on the site. Still, it does not mean that Social Security will not list it sometime in the future.
The SSA adds new health conditions after considering input from various sources, including scientific and medical experts, National Institutes of Health research, and even information from the public. The SSA allows individuals to submit a name for consideration through their website. Still, even if the Compassion Allowances program does not work out in your case, you might explore other options that may help your child.