2025 Compassionate Allowances list — Thirteen conditions added 

Earlier this week, the Social Security Administration announced the addition of thirteen conditions to SSA’s Compassionate Allowances conditions list.  

Created in 2008, the Compassionate Allowances program (CAL) identifies conditions and diagnoses that are so severe that they will automatically meet Social Security’s strict definition of disability.

Once it is established that an applicant has a condition or diagnosis found on the CAL list, Social Security may be able to expedite their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application for a timelier release of benefits. With the addition of the 13 conditions, the CAL list includes 300 total conditions.  

The following were added: 

• Au-Kline Syndrome: A rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the HNRNPK gene, leading to developmental delays, intellectual disability, distinctive facial features, and multisystem involvement. 
• Bilateral Anophthalmia: A congenital condition where both eyes fail to develop, resulting in complete blindness and often associated with other systemic abnormalities. 
• Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome: A very rare congenital myopathy characterized by facial weakness, cleft palate, scoliosis, and other musculoskeletal and neurological abnormalities due to MYMK gene mutations. 
• Harlequin Ichthyosis – Child: A severe genetic skin disorder in newborns marked by thick, cracked skin plates that impair movement, breathing, and temperature regulation, often life-threatening without intensive care. 
• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A medical procedure involving the infusion of stem cells to restore blood cell production, commonly used to treat cancers and immune disorders. 
• LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy: A rare neuromuscular disorder caused by LMNA gene mutations, leading to early-onset muscle weakness, spinal rigidity, and cardiac complications. 
• Progressive Muscular Atrophy: A rare neuromuscular disorder caused by LMNA gene mutations, leading to early-onset muscle weakness, spinal rigidity, and cardiac complications.  
• Pulmonary Amyloidosis – AL Type: A form of amyloidosis where abnormal light chain proteins deposit in the lungs, causing respiratory dysfunction and systemic complications. 
• Rasmussen Encephalitis: A rare chronic inflammatory brain disorder, typically affecting one hemisphere, leading to intractable seizures, cognitive decline, and progressive neurological deficits. 
• Thymic Carcinoma: An aggressive and rare cancer of the thymus gland that often presents late and has a high potential for metastasis and recurrence. 
• Turnpenny-Fry Syndrome: A rare genetic condition characterized by developmental delay, distinctive facial features, and skeletal abnormalities, caused by mutations in the KAT6A gene. 
• WHO Grade III Meningiomas: A classification of malignant meningiomas that are fast-growing, invasive brain tumors with a high risk of recurrence and poor prognosis. 
• Zhu-Tokita-Takenouchi-Kim Syndrome: A rare multisystem disorder caused by mutations in the SON gene, presenting with developmental delay, intellectual disability, and various congenital anomalies. 

The importance of the Compassionate Allowances program 

The CAL program has helped more than 1 million applicants with one of 300 designated conditions be fast-tracked for Social Security claim approval. The program continues to grow in importance as Social Security contends with rising numbers of applications and average processing times. As of the 2025 fiscal year, the SSA has nearly 957,000 applicants awaiting a determination on their initial SSDI application. Current applicants face the longest application decision time in years, as the 2024 fiscal year closed between 184 and 240 days for both SSDI and SSI claims at the initial application level. 

Over the past decade and a half, applicants filing a claim with a Compassionate Allowance designation could receive their decision in as little as a week to ten days from the date they filed their application. Unfortunately, this is no longer the standard timeframe for the most vulnerable applicants as they, too, may be expected to wait weeks or even months for a decision. However, in many cases, a Compassionate Allowance designation could still mean the difference between waiting a few weeks versus several months or longer to receive a decision. 

What happens next? 

If you are filing for SSDI or SSI benefits and have one of the conditions recently added to the CAL list, you should reach out to your local Social Security office today to ensure that a Compassionate

Allowance designation has been added to your file to help expedite the decision-making process. Social Security can add this designation to your application, regardless of the level, including if you have received a denial. If you are a customer of Brown & Brown Absence Services Group, we will contact Social Security on your behalf to help ensure the proper processing of your claim. You may contact us anytime if you have questions about how this might impact your claim. 

Nothing in this post is intended as advice or a suggestion to elect or not elect to claim benefits of any kind, including Social Security benefits, nor is it intended as financial advice in any way. The decision to claim benefits is personal and contingent upon each individual’s unique circumstances. Nothing herein is considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.