May is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Awareness Month. It’s just one of the medical conditions that meets Social Security Administration’s definition of disability and is included on the agency’s Compassionate Allowances list.
SSA expedites the benefit application process for applicants that fall under a category on the Compassionate Allowances list. Social Security can help people meet their basic needs, helping to pay for doctors’ visits, medicines and treatments.
ALS is just one example of the types of disabilities for which workers may receive Social Security disability benefits. Others include cancers, diseases, birth defects, physical disabilities caused by accidents, and organ-related disabilities such as congestive heart failure.
Many people don’t think of disability as something that could happen to them, but SSA says more than one in four 20 year olds will become disabled before reaching retirement age.