Maybe occasionally there is a glimmer of truth to the saying, “I’m from Washington and I’m here to help you.”
Today, the Social Security Administration unveiled a new initiative to make it easier for people with certain serious medical conditions to get their Social Security disability benefits promptly and with a lot less hassle.
Called “The Compassionate Allowances Initiative,” this new program is due to the efforts of the Hon. Michael Astrue, the Commissioner of Social Security, and his staff to finally bring some streamlining to a process that has been frustratingly and agonizingly slow for so many patients and their families for so many for decades.
The American Cancer Society was honored to participate in this effort through our testimony and subsequent support as this initiative moved through the Agency. We thank the Agency for listening to patients, their families, the Society and others.
Now we have a program to streamline and improve the process for determining Social Security benefits. This is truly special for those with cancer who need help at the most difficult time of their lives.
What does this program offer?
For a total of 50 conditions—including 25 specific cancers and 25 rare diseases—if a person has that condition, a decision on their eligibility for social security benefits will be made in days instead of months or years, according to a statement from the Commissioner. In addition, the Agency also noted that this list may expand over time.
(You can find more information on the Compassionate Allowance Initiative at: www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.)
The list of cancers covered under this program includes, among others: acute leukemia, aggressive brain cancer (astrocytoma grades 3 and 4 and glioblastoma multiforme), advanced breast cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer and advanced lung cancer. (The complete list is available at the same website noted above.)
I first became aware of how serious the situation was when I started my oncology practice in Baltimore in the mid 1970’s.
Patients diagnosed with late stage cancer who had no hope of recovery or faced debilitating cancer treatment and were obviously disabled even under the very strict definitions of the Social Security disability program had to wait months for approval before they could get their benefits.
Unfortunately for some (and their families and dependents), the wait for benefits was longer than their survival.
Fast forward to more recent times and you have a Commissioner who was finally willing to take on the problem and gave his staff the opportunity to creatively address a true failing of an important safety net system.
I know that this may not seem like a “big” news story to many of you who are fortunate to be well and able to work. But I can tell you first hand the heartache that many patients and their families have experienced once they have been diagnosed with advanced cancer and need whatever financial help they can get. (I wrote in greater detail about the problem in a previous blog in April, after I had testified at a hearing convened by the Commissioner in Boston.)
So, my hat is off the Social Security Administration and Commissioner Astrue for doing something to benefit our patients and their families.
There is always a lot of talk about people in Washington doing this and doing that to help us, especially during this campaign season. Most of us dismiss those promises as part of the “same old same old” Washington line.
In my opinion, what we have here is an example of an agency that has actually reached out and done something “real” that can only serve to help those in need at one of the most distressing times in their lives.
On behalf of those who are so personally affected by this dreaded disease, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
