Compassionate Allowances
300 medical conditions that Social Security treats as obviously meeting disability criteria — so claims get approved in weeks, not months. No different application, no separate form; SSA flags them automatically based on your diagnosis.
What is a Compassionate Allowance?
The Compassionate Allowances (CAL) program is SSA's fast-track for the most severe medical conditions — cancers at advanced stages, rare genetic syndromes, aggressive neurological disorders. Your claim still goes through the usual DDS process, but examiners give it priority and typically approve within 30–90 days of filing.
You don't apply for a "compassionate allowance" — you apply for SSDI or SSI like anyone else. If your diagnosis matches a CAL condition, SSA's systems flag your claim automatically. You should still list the diagnosis clearly on form SSA-3368 and ensure treating specialists' records are requested.
Check your diagnosis below. If you see it on this list, expect a faster-than-normal decision. If you don't, don't despair — many non-CAL conditions still qualify through the regular Blue Book route. See our Blue Book conditions index.
Adult Cancers (84)
Aggressive, advanced, or treatment-resistant cancers in adults.
- Acute Leukemia
- Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
- Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer - Adult with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Anaplastic Ependymoma
- Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma
- Angiosarcoma
- Astrocytoma - Grade III and IV
- Bladder Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm
- Breast Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- CIC-rearranged Sarcoma
- Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Chondrosarcoma - with multimodal therapy
- Choroid Plexus Carcinoma
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - Blast Phase
- Desmoplastic Mesothelioma
- Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors
- Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma
- Esophageal Cancer
- Esthesioneuroblastoma
- Ewing Sarcoma
- Fibrolamellar Cancer
- Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma - metastatic or recurrent
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Glioblastoma Multiforme (Brain Cancer)
- Glioma - Grade III and IV
- Head and Neck Cancers - with distant metastasis or inoperable or unresectable
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Histiocytic Malignancies
- Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
- Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma
- Kidney Cancer - inoperable or unresectable
- Large Intestine Cancer - with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Leiomyosarcoma
- Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis
- Liposarcoma - metastatic or recurrent
- Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis - Grade III
- Malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
- Malignant Germ Cell Tumor
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma - with metastases
- Metastatic Endometrial Adenocarcinoma
- Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
- Multicentric Castleman Disease
- NUT Carcinoma
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Oligodendroglioma Brain Cancer - Grade III
- Osteosarcoma - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Ovarian Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Pericardial Mesothelioma
- Peripheral Nerve Cancer - metastatic or recurrent
- Peritoneal Mesothelioma
- Peritoneal Mucinous Carcinomatosis
- Plasmablastic Lymphoma
- Pleural Mesothelioma
- Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
- Primary Effusion Lymphoma
- Primary Omental Cancer
- Primary Peritoneal Cancer
- Prostate Cancer - Hormone Refractory Disease or with visceral metastases
- Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Renal Medullary Carcinoma
- Richter Syndrome
- Salivary Cancers
- Sarcomatoid Carcinoma of the Lung - Stages II - IV
- Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma
- Secondary Adenocarcinoma of the Brain
- Sinonasal Cancer
- Skin Malignant Melanoma with Metastases
- Small Cell Cancer Large Intestine
- Small Cell Cancer of the Female Genital Tract
- Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Small Intestine Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Soft Tissue Sarcoma - with distant metastases or recurrent
- Spinal Nerve Root Cancer - metastatic or recurrent
- Stomach Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- Thymic Carcinoma
- Thyroid Cancer
- Ureter Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
- WHO Grade III Meningiomas
Pediatric Cancers (13)
Cancers primarily affecting children.
- Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
- Bilateral Retinoblastoma
- Child Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
- Child Lymphoma
- Child Neuroblastoma - with distant metastases or recurrent
- Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Cancer)
- Hepatoblastoma
- Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas - Childhood
- Malignant Ectomesenchymoma
- Malignant Renal Rhabdoid Tumor
- Medulloblastoma
- Pineoblastoma - Childhood
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
Neurodegenerative Disorders (42)
Progressive degeneration of the brain and nervous system.
- ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex
- Adult Onset Huntington Disease
- Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome
- Alexander Disease (ALX) - Neonatal and Infantile
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Ataxia Telangiectasia
- Canavan Disease (CD)
- Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis
- Charlevoix-Saguenay Spastic Ataxia
- Corticobasal Degeneration
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) - Adult
- Dravet Syndrome
- Fatal Familial Insomnia
- Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA)
- Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease
- Giant Axonal Neuropathy
- Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
- Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease
- Krabbe Disease (KD) - Infantile
- Leigh's Disease
- Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
- Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) - Late Infantile
- Multiple System Atrophy
- Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation - Types 1 and 2
- Ohtahara Syndrome
- Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with Pigmented Glia
- Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease - Classic Form
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease - Connatal Form
- Perry Syndrome
- Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia
- Progressive Bulbar Palsy
- Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
- Progressive Muscular Atrophy
- Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
- Rasmussen Encephalitis
- SCN8A Related Epilepsy with Encephalopathy
- Spinocerebellar Ataxia
- Stiff Person Syndrome
- Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis
- Superficial Siderosis of the Central Nervous System
- Tabes Dorsalis
Early-Onset Dementias (6)
Dementing illnesses that appear earlier than typical age-related dementia.
- Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
- Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Pick's Disease -Type A – Adult
- Lewy Body Dementia
- Mixed Dementias
- Posterior Cortical Atrophy
- Primary Progressive Aphasia
Muscular Dystrophies & Motor Neuron (8)
Genetic and progressive muscle-wasting diseases.
- Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy
- Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy- Adult
- Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - Types 0 and 1
- Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
- X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy
Cardiac & Transplant (15)
Severe heart disease and transplant waitlist conditions.
- Adult Heart Transplant Wait List - Status Levels 1-4
- Aortic Atresia
- Cardiac Amyloidosis- AL Type
- Child Heart Transplant Wait List - Status Levels 1A/1B
- Eisenmenger Syndrome
- Endomyocardial Fibrosis
- Fulminant Giant Cell Myocarditis
- Heart Transplant Graft Failure
- Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
- Mitral Valve Atresia
- Pulmonary Atresia
- Single Ventricle
- Transplant Coronary Artery Vasculopathy
- Tricuspid Atresia
- Ventricular Assist Device Recipient - Left, Right, or Biventricular
Respiratory (4)
Severe lung diseases.
- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Obliterative Bronchiolitis
- Pulmonary Amyloidosis - AL Type
- Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
Digestive, Liver & Kidney (8)
Severe GI, liver, or kidney conditions.
- Calciphylaxis
- Chronic Idiopathic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction
- Hepatopulmonary Syndrome
- Hepatorenal Syndrome
- Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis Syndrome
- Microvillus Inclusion Disease – Child
- Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis
- Renal Amyloidosis - AL Type
Hematologic & Immune (13)
Blood, bone marrow, and immune system disorders.
- Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
- Aplastic Anemia
- Beta Thalassemia Major
- Degos Disease - Systemic
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) - Familial Type
- Histiocytosis Syndromes
- Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis Syndrome
- Mastocytosis - Type IV
- Myelodysplastic Syndrome with Excess Blasts
- Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency - Childhood
- X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disease
Genetic Syndromes & Congenital (73)
Chromosomal, genetic, or congenital multi-system disorders.
- 1p36 Deletion Syndrome
- Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome
- Alobar Holoprosencephaly
- Alstrom Syndrome
- Angelman Syndrome
- Au-Kline Syndrome
- Bainbridge-Ropers Syndrome
- Bilateral Anophthalmia
- Bilateral Optic Atrophy- Infantile
- CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder
- Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome
- Caudal Regression Syndrome - Types III and IV
- Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
- Coffin-Lowry Syndrome
- Congenital Lymphedema
- Congenital Zika Syndrome
- Cornelia de Lange Syndrome - Classic Form
- Costello Syndrome
- Cri du Chat Syndrome
- DeSanctis Cacchione Syndrome
- Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18)
- FOXG1 Syndrome
- Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
- Fryns Syndrome
- Harlequin Ichthyosis - Child
- Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson Syndrome
- Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
- Hydranencephaly
- Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome
- Joubert Syndrome
- Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa - Lethal Type
- Kleefstra Syndrome
- Leber Congenital Amaurosis
- Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
- Lissencephaly
- Lowe Syndrome
- MECP2 Duplication Syndrome
- Marshall-Smith Syndrome
- Megalencephaly Capillary Malformation Syndrome
- Menkes Disease - Classic or Infantile Onset Form
- Mowat-Wilson Syndrome
- Neonatal Marfan Syndrome
- Nicolaides-Baraister Syndrome
- Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) - Type II
- PACS1 Syndrome
- Pallister-Killian Syndrome
- Patau Syndrome (Trisomy 13)
- Pfeiffer Syndrome - Types II and III
- Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
- Pitt Hopkins Syndrome
- Renpenning Syndrome
- Retinopathy of Prematurity - Stage V, Bilateral
- Rett (RTT) Syndrome
- Revesz Syndrome
- Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata
- Roberts Syndrome
- Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome
- SYNGAP1-related NSID
- Seckel Syndrome
- Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome
- Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome
- Snijders Blok-Campeau Syndrome
- Taybi-Linder Syndrome
- Tetrasomy 18p
- Thanatophoric Dysplasia - Type 1
- Trisomy 9
- Turnpenny-Fry Syndrome
- Usher Syndrome - Type I
- Walker Warburg Syndrome
- Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome
- Xeroderma Pigmentosum
- Zellweger Syndrome
- Zhu-Tokita-Takenouchi-Kim Syndrome
Metabolic & Storage Disorders (34)
Inborn errors of metabolism and lysosomal storage diseases.
- Alpers Disease
- Alpha Mannosidosis - Type II and III
- Batten Disease
- CACH--Vanishing White Matter Disease-Infantile and Childhood Onset Forms
- Erdheim Chester Disease
- Farber's Disease (FD) – Infantile
- Fucosidosis - Type 1
- GM1 Gangliosidosis - Infantile and Juvenile Forms
- Galactosialidosis - Early and Late Infantile Types
- Gaucher Disease (GD) - Type 2
- Glutaric Acidemia - Type II
- Hypophosphatasia Perinatal (Lethal) and Infantile Onset Types
- I Cell Disease
- Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease
- Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- Kufs Disease - Type A and B
- Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
- MPS I (Hurler Syndrome)
- MPS II (Hunter Syndrome)
- MPS III (Sanfilippo Syndrome)
- Maple Syrup Urine Disease
- Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers Syndrome
- NFU-1 Mitochondrial Disease
- Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) - Type A
- Niemann-Pick Disease-Type C
- Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia
- Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
- Pearson Syndrome
- Pompe Disease – Infantile
- Sandhoff Disease
- Schindler Disease - Type 1
- Tay Sachs Disease - Infantile Type
- Wolman Disease
Other Rare Diseases (0)
Rare conditions not fitting other categories.