Life can be full of surprises, some are pleasant, others a little less so. Many people have been struck by life-altering events, affecting not only them but their loved ones as well. Trying to cope with the effects of these life-altering events while trying to make ends meet in the U.S. is not always an easy job. Now, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced a massive change for 13 groups, which started in August. See whether you or a loved one could be affected by this change.
The SSA’s plays a crucial role in the U.S.
The SSA is a federal agency in the United States that manages social insurance in the form of benefits. One of the benefit types includes disability benefits. If you apply for disability benefits, the agency usually obtains your medical records to make accurate judgements. What most people may not be aware of, is that the agency has Compassionate Allowances (CAL) list, which assists them in selections during the application process.
Advanced technology is utilized by the agency to pinpoint prospective CAL conditions and to accelerate claims processing. Conditions that are typically included on the CAL list, are conditions that prevent citizens from working, will last a minimum of 12 months, and will unfortunately result in death. There is over 200 qualifying conditions on the CAL list, but now the SSA has made an announcement that will change everything.
The massive change that will affect these 13 groups
The latest announcement that has been made by the SSA will change the requirements for the CAL list forever, and will impact 13 groups of citizens specifically. Hopefully, this change will be a welcome one, especially after the agency had to announce this extremely bad news, which was met by severe criticism throughout the country.
According to the announcement by the agency, 13 new conditions have been added to the CAL list, which will significantly speed up the disability benefits application process for citizens who have been impacted these conditions.
People who fall in one of these 13 groups of conditions will qualify
- Au-Kline Syndrome
- Bilateral Anophthalmia
- Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome
- Harlequin Ichthyosis – Child
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Progressive Muscular Atrophy
- Pulmonary Amyloidosis – AL Type
- Rasmussen Encephalitis
- Thymic Carcinoma
- Turnpenny-Fry Syndrome
- WHO Grade III Meningiomas
- Zhu-Tokita-Takenouchi-Kim Syndrome
The change will be embraced in August
We are constantly looking for ways to improve our disability programs and serve the public more effectively. By adding these 13 conditions to the Compassionate Allowances list, we are helping more people with devastating diagnoses to quickly receive the support they need. This is part of our broader commitment to making the disability determination process as responsive and compassionate as possible.” – SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano
According to the official statement from the Social Security Administration, there are now a total of 300 conditions that will help speed up applications. Normally, it takes three to five months to decide whether a application must be approved or not, per the agency. According to the South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report, more than 1.1 millions citizens with severe disabilities have been approved by the sped up process.
This significant change has been made effective on August 11, 2025. Now, more people could qualify sooner.
The SSA has undergone some severe changes these past few months. Thankfully, this change seems to be for the better of qualifying citizens and their loved ones. We hope that the future will hold more good news from the agency, and that this specific news will bring some comfort to those whose lives have been severely impacted by one of the qualifying conditions. For more information regarding the changes made to the SSA’s CAL list, please visit the official SSA website.
Disclaimer: This content is informational only and does not supersede or replace the SSA’s or IRS’s own publications and notices. Always verify any specific dates and amounts by following the direct links in our article to SSA.gov or IRS.gov, or by consulting your local SSA field office or tax professional.