C.The Role of Consultative Examinations in Disability Determination

132  |  NOLO’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY



• Your doctor does not have the equip­

hand, the SSA will never send you to a

ment to provide the specific data needed. chiropractor, naturopath, herbalist, or other

• Conflicts or inconsistencies in your

alternative healer for an examination.

medical file will not be resolved by

using your doctor.

Consultative Examiners

• You prefer that someone other than

Versus Medical Consultants

your doctor administer the CE and

you have a good reason for wanting

Doctors who do CEs for the SSA are not

it—for example, you don’t want to

the same as DDS medical consultants.

compromise your relationship with

This can be confusing, because CE doctors

your doctor.

may also work as medical consultants for

• The SSA has prior experience with

the DDS. When they are performing work

your doctor and does not believe that

for the DDS, they are called “DDS medical

he or she will conduct a proper CE.

consultants.”

This might happen, for example, if the

Here is the difference. A CE doctor

DDS knows from past experience that

examines a claimant and sends his or her

your treating doctor does a poor job in

report to the SSA with an opinion on what

conducting CEs. In other instances,

a claimant can do, given the claimant’s

treating doctors do adequate CE examimedical condition. CEs do not necessarily

nations, but are so slow sending the

have the training or authority to make a

results to the DDS that a case can be

medical disability determination.

On the other hand, DDS medical conheld up for many unnecessary months.



4. Who Serves as Independent

Consultative Examiners?

All consultative examiners used by the

SSA are acceptable medical sources (see

Section A, above) in private practice. For

example, the SSA may have your hearing

tested by an audiologist. (An audiologist’s

report may be all that’s need in some cases.

However, the SSA will always want to

know what disorder is causing a hearing

loss, and that may require examination by

a ENT medical doctor, if such exam is not

already in the claimant’s file.) On the other



sultants do not actually examine claimants,

but do have the authority to make disability

determinations based on the special training

by the SSA/DDS that they must undergo

before being allowed to make decisions, as

well as ongoing training they receive.



5. Who Pays for the Consultative

Examination?

The SSA pays for all CE examinations and

reports—even if your own treating doctor

administers the CE.







CHAPTER 5  |  PROVING YOU ARE DISABLED  |  133



except that your treating doctor’s

opinion generally carries more weight

A complete CE is one in which the doctor

than an independent doctor’s.

administers all the elements of a standard

Consultative examination doctors cannot

examination required for the applicable

decide whether or not you qualify for

medical condition. If you undergo a

disability. Their assessments can be useful,

complete CE, the doctor’s report should

but usually do not carry the weight of

include the following information:

your treating doctor’s medical assessments

• your chief complaints

supported by evidence.

• a detailed history of the chief complaints

Many CEs are not complete physical

• details of important findings, based on

or mental examinations, but are specific

your history, examination, and laboratory

tests, such as breathing tests or X-rays. For

tests (such as blood tests and X-rays) as

example, many claimants who complain of

related to your main complaints. This

shortness of breath caused by lung damage

should include abnormalities that you do

from cigarette smoking are sent for breathing

have (positive findings such as swollen

tests only; their treating doctor or a prior

joints in physical disorders or presence of

CE already provide the necessary physical

delusions in mental disorders), as well as

examination data. Many claimants are sent

abnormalities that could have but didn’t

for blood tests required by the Listing of

show up during your exam (negative

Impairments, or that are otherwise necessary

findings). (Abnormalities found during

to determine a disability. X-rays are another

a physical exam or with laboratory

kind of CE frequently performed without a

testing should also be reported, even if

full examination.

you didn’t know of them or complain

When the CE doctor administers only

of them.)

a specific test, he or she is not expected to

• the results of laboratory and other

provide an opinion regarding what you can

tests (such as X-rays or blood tests)

do given your impairments.

performed according to the Listing

of Impairments. (See Chapter 7 and

7. Your Protections in a

Parts 1 through 14 of the Medical

Consultative Examination

Listings on Nolo’s website.)

• the diagnosis and prognosis for your

It is the SSA’s responsibility to make

impairments, and

sure that consultative examiners provide

• a statement about what you can do

professional and reasonable care. Examining

despite your impairments; this is the

rooms should be clean and adequately

same kind of information that the SSA equipped and you should be treated with

requests from your treating doctor

courtesy. The DDS is supposed to ask you



6. Contents of a CE Report



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questions about your CE—how long you

had to wait, whether you were treated with

courtesy, how long the examination took,

and whether it seemed complete. If you

have a complaint about your CE experience

and have not been asked about it by the

DDS, call the public relations department

at the DDS to voice your concern.

The SSA tries to screen out doctors who

violate adequate standards for a CE or who

provide incomplete or repeatedly inaccurate

reports. Doctors may take shortcuts with

a CE because the SSA doesn’t pay much

for them and doctors are often in a hurry.

A nurse can record a part of your history

as long as the doctor reads what the nurse

wrote and reviews the important parts

with you. But no one other than a doctor

(or another acceptable medical source, like

a nurse practitioner or advanced practice

nurse) should examine you.

The SSA provides CE doctors with

detailed instructions regarding the require­

ments for an adequate and complete exam­

ination. These standards are generally

accepted by the medical profession as

needed for the competent examination of

any patient in the specialty concerned.

EXAMPLE: You are sent to an arthritis

specialist (rheumatologist) because you

complained of joint and back pains. The

doctor has her nurse take your history and

spends ten minutes with you, looking briefly

at some of your joints. The doctor does not

test how well the joints move or how well

you can walk. This inadequate exam will be

unacceptable to the SSA.



8. If the Consultative Examination

Is Inadequate

If you did not receive an adequate con­

sultative examination—particularly if the

doctor did not examine you about your

complaint—contact the DDS examiner

who arranged it. Call, but also send your

complaint in writing to be added to your

SSA file.

If you have appealed your denial of dis­

ability and are at the administrative hearing

level, complain to the administrative law

judge. Tell the DDS examiner or judge

about the inadequate examination and ask

to be sent to someone who will examine

you properly. If your complaint is not taken

seriously, write to the DDS public relations

department and the DDS director. If that

doesn’t work, call the SSA’s hotline number

(800-772-1213) and ask for assistance.



D. Evidence of Symptoms

The SSA will investigate many areas of your

life and the effect of symptoms—such as

pain, shortness of breath, or fatigue—on

your ability to function.



1. Evidence Related to Symptoms

Evidence of your symptoms will include the

following kinds of information provided by

your treating doctor and other sources:

• your daily activities—what you do during a typical day. Especially important is

how these activities of daily living (called







ADLs in SSA lingo) are affected by your

pain and other symptoms.

• the location, duration, frequency, and

intensity of the pain or other symptoms—where you have pain or other

symptoms, how long the symptoms

last, how often the symptoms occur,

and the severity of the symptoms

• precipitating and aggravating factors—

what activities or other factors are

known to cause or exacerbate your

symptoms

• the type, dosage, effectiveness, and side

effects of any medication—whether

prescribed or purchased over the

counter, the dosage used, whether or

not the medication helps pain or other

symptoms, and the type and severity

of any side effects. Medications include

herbal or other alternative medicine

remedies. Be sure to let your treating

doctor know if you are taking anything

he or she hasn’t prescribed.

• treatments, other than medications, for

the relief of pain or other symptoms

—including things like hydrotherapy,

music therapy, relaxation therapy,

biofeedback, hypnosis, massage, physical

therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve

stimulators, and meditation

• any measures you use or have used

to relieve pain or other symptoms—

information that may offer the SSA

insight into the nature and severity of

your condition



CHAPTER 5  |  PROVING YOU ARE DISABLED  |  135



• other factors concerning your functional limitations due to pain or other

symptoms.



CAUTION

If you reveal to the SSA that you

use marijuana, even if it is clearly for medical

reasons, the SSA may be compelled by federal

law to consider it a drug abuse or alcoholism

(DAA) problem that could affect the outcome

of your disability determination. DAA problems

are discussed in Chapter 11, Section F.



2. The SSA Evaluation of Symptoms

The SSA makes its determinations based

on your individual symptoms, not a general

perception. For instance, rarely would the

SSA give any weight to your allegation

of headaches, because in most people,

headaches are not frequent enough or severe

enough to prevent work. But some people

have severe, frequent migraine headaches

that last hours or even days at a time, and

which do not respond to treatment by

doctors. It is rare to see headaches this severe,

but if you have them, the SSA can use them

to allow disability benefits in your individual

case. In the case of a disorder like headaches,

where a physical examination shows very

little abnormality, it is particularly critical

that your treating doctor has good records

about the severity, duration, and frequency

of the headaches. These records will provide



136  |  NOLO’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY



credibility to your allegation that the

headaches are disabling.

Just because you say you have certain

symptoms, you will not automatically

be granted disability. Although the SSA

must give consideration to your individual

symptoms, the SSA is not obligated to

believe that you have the symptoms you

say you have or to believe that they are as

severe as you say they are. Remember—an

acceptable medical source must provide

objective evidence that reasonably supports

the severity of the symptoms you allege.

What you do regarding your symptoms is

much more important than what you say. If

you have back pain and have frequently seen

doctors in an attempt to improve the pain,

this indicates that you might really have

severe back pain. But your statement about

severe pain becomes less believable when

you haven’t seen a doctor. And if you have

seen a doctor, then his or her evaluation and

treatment are very important.

EXAMPLE 1: You have back pain. You have

had multiple back surgeries to address what

your doctor believes to be the abnormalities

that cause the problem. But the pain has

continued. Your doctor has given you

injections of steroids in an attempt to block

pain and you have used a TENS electrical

stimulator unit for pain. You take pills for

pain. When you say that you are highly

restricted in what you can do because of

pain, the SSA should give considerable

weight to your statements.



EXAMPLE 2: You have back pain. But you’ve

never had surgery, have no abnormalities

on physical examination, and have normal

X-rays of your back. When you say you can’t

do anything because of back pain, the SSA is

not likely to believe you.



Almost all people who apply for disability

have pain or other symptom complaints, such

as dizziness, weakness, fatigue, nervousness,

or shortness of breath. Any DDS or SSA

medical consultant or administrative law

judge who does not ask about your symptoms

or who does not take them into account is in

violation of federal regulations.



3. The SSA Evaluation of Pain

Pain and other symptoms often go to the

heart of the restrictions on your activities

of daily living. As explained in Chapter 2,

you must complete forms describing what

you do during an average day and what you

cannot do.

In back pain cases, it is important to

measure how long you can sit and stand in

one continuous period. Inability to sit or

stand very long can be very critical to the

outcome of your claim, if the SSA believes

your symptoms. If your doctor writes the

SSA about your back pain, make sure that

he or she remarks on your ability to lift,

bend, and stoop. Your doctor should also

state how long he or she thinks you can

stand and sit in one continuous period as

well as the total time you can sit and stand

during a typical workday.







4. If Physical Evidence Does Not

Support Your Claim of Pain

If you allege that you have severe

restrictions from pain, but no doctor

(your own or a CE doctor) can find any

reasonable physical basis for it, the SSA is

likely to consider the possibility that you

have a mental disorder of some kind.

EXAMPLE: You apply for disability and

the evidence indicates there is very little

wrong with you physically. But you say

you must use crutches to walk or even use

a wheelchair, and have been living that

way for some time. This suggests a mental

disorder, and the SSA is likely to ask you

to go to a mental examination by a clinical

psychologist or psychiatrist.



In obvious cases of malingering (pretend­

ing an illness), the SSA would not request a

mental examination. In fact, now and then

a claimant will rent a wheelchair or crutches

just for a CE, and is then seen by the doctor

walking normally to a car after the exam.

Most CE doctors can tell when there is no

medical reason for a wheelchair, crutches,

or walker. In other words, attempted fraud

when no condition exists is not likely to

be successful. But claimants who have

significant impairments may sometimes

successfully exaggerate the severity of their

conditions. Such dishonesty is difficult

to detect, but is sometimes exposed when

the SSA obtains treating doctor records

showing less severity.



CHAPTER 5  |  PROVING YOU ARE DISABLED  |  137



E. Other Evidence

Information from sources other than your

treating physician and any consultative

examiner may help show the extent to

which your impairments affect your

ability to function. Other sources include

public and private social welfare agencies,

teachers, day care providers, social workers,

family members, other relatives, clergy,

friends, employers, and other practitioners,

such as physical therapists, audiologists,

chiropractors, and naturopaths.

If you want evidence from these types of

individuals and practitioners, ask them to

write a letter to be put in your file for the

DDS to review. You may also mail in the

records of any practitioner yourself or give

them to the SSA Field Office representative

when you file your claim.

However, if the evidence contradicts

the evidence of acceptable medical sources

described in Section A above or does not

consist of evidence generally acceptable to

the medical community, the evidence will be

given little weight in evaluating your claim.



F. Expedited Determinations

In response to complaints about how slowly

disability claims are processed, the SSA now

has two programs for serious or advanced

illness, called Compassionate Allowances

and Terminal Illness programs.



138  |  NOLO’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY



1. Compassionate Allowances Cases

The Social Security Administration

(SSA) provides expedited processing for

medical conditions that are listed in the

Compassionate Allowances List (CAL).

Compassionate allowance cases don’t

involve any special criteria for qualifying

for disability benefits. Rather, CAL cases

are those involving such severe impairments

that they would always satisfy one of the

SSA’s disability listings.

CAL cases are selected for fast ­processing

through a DDS based solely on the allega­

tions of a claimant or parent of a child

claimant. If the allegations fit the SSA’s

predictive model that the claim will result

in an approval with minimal objective

information necessary (such as a positive

biopsy for esophageal cancer), the claim will

qualify for CAL treatment.

The evidence the DDS needs is truly

minimal—just enough information to

establish the correct diagnosis. The type

of information you need to provide for a

CAL case depends on the nature of your

condition. For example, most CAL cases

involve cancer. If you have leukemia or

another form of cancer, the most important

thing is the biopsy report. Along with

a hospital discharge summary or letter

from your doctor, that would be sufficient

evidence.

However, hospitals or treating doctors

may require weeks or months to respond to

a DDS request for basic medical records.

Therefore, you can speed up processing of



your claim by submitting basic medical

information along with your application, or

sending it to the disability examiner at DDS

yourself.

Because minimal objective information is

required—proof of the medical condition is

sufficient to assume disability—these cases

can be allowed in much less time. That is

the “compassion” component: SSA gives

them priority, so that a CAL case is decided

in a matter of days rather than months. In

that sense, these cases are similar to Quick

Disability Determination (QDD) cases (see

Chapter 6). However, unlike a QDD claim,

a medical consultant is needed to medically

assess and sign a CAL case before approval

or denial.

Here is a complete list of CAL impairments:

• Acute Leukemia

• Adrenal Cancer—with distant metastases

or inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent

• Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

• Adult Onset Huntington Disease

• Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome

• Alexander Disease (ALX)—Neonatal

and Infantile

• Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome

• Alobar Holoprosencephaly

• Alpers Disease

• Alpha Mannosidosis—Type II and III

• ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex

• Alstrom Syndrome

• Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma

• Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)







• Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer—with

distant metastases or inoperable,

unresectable, or recurrent

• Angelman Syndrome

• Angiosarcoma

• Aortic Atresia

• Aplastic Anemia

• Astrocytoma—Grade III and IV

• Ataxia Telangiectasia

• Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor

• Batten Disease

• Beta Thalassemia Major

• Bilateral Optic Atrophy—Infantile

• Bilateral Retinoblastoma

• Bladder Cancer—with distant

metastases or inoperable or unresectable

• Breast Cancer—with distant metastases

or inoperable or unresectable

• CACH—Vanishing White Matter

Disease, Infantile and Childhood

Onset Forms

• Canavan Disease (CD)

• Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site

• Caudal Regression Syndrome—Types

III and IV

• Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS)

Syndrome

• Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis

• Child Neuroblastoma—with distant

metastases or recurrent

• Child Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma—

recurrent

• Child T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

• Chondrosarcoma—with multimodal

therapy



CHAPTER 5  |  PROVING YOU ARE DISABLED  |  139



• Chronic Idiopathic Intestinal Pseudo

Obstruction

• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

(CML)—Blast Phase

• Coffin-Lowry Syndrome

• Congenital Lymphedema

• Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy

• Cornelia de Lange Syndrome

• Corticobasal Degeneration

• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)—Adult

• Cri du Chat Syndrome

• Degos Disease—Systemic

• DeSanctis Cacchione Syndrome

• Dravet Syndrome

• Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

• Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18)

• Eisenmenger Syndrome

• Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma

• Endomyocardial Fibrosis

• Ependymoblastoma (Child Brain Tumor)

• Erdheim Chester Disease

• Esophageal Cancer

• Esthesioneuroblastoma

• Ewing Sarcoma

• Farber’s Disease (FD)—Infantile

• Fatal Familial Insomnia

• Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

• Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma—

metastatic or recurrent

• Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)

• Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD),

Picks Disease—Type A—Adult

• Fryns Syndrome

• Fucosidosis—Type 1

• Fukuyama Congenital Muscular

Dystrophy



140  |  NOLO’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY



• Fulminant Giant Cell Myocarditis

• Galactosialidosis—Early and Late

Infantile Types

• Gallbladder Cancer

• Gaucher Disease (GD)—Type 2

• Giant Axonal Neuropathy

• Glioblastoma Multiforme (Adult Brain

Tumor)

• Glioma Grade III and IV

• Glutaric Acidemia (neonatal)

• Head and Neck Cancers—with distant

metastasis or inoperable or unresectable

• Heart Transplant Graft Failure

• Heart Transplant Wait List—1A/1B

• Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

(HLH)—Familial Type

• Hepatoblastoma

• Hepatopulmonary Syndrome

• Hepatorenal Syndrome

• Histiocytosis Syndromes

• Hoyeaal-Hreidarsson Syndrome

• Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

• Hydranencephaly

• Hypocomplementemic Urticarial

Vasculitis Syndrome

• Hypophosphatasia Perinatal (Lethal)

and Infantile Onset Types

• Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

• I Cell Disease

• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

• Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma

• Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease

• Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)

• Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses

• Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)

• Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma



• Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome

• Joubert Syndrome

• Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa—

Lethal Type

• Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease

• Kidney Cancer—inoperable or

unresectable

• Kleefstra Syndrome

• Krabbe Disease (KD)—Infantile

• Kufs Disease—Type A and B

• Large Intestine Cancer—with distant

metastasis or inoperable, unresectable,

or recurrent

• Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid

Lipofuscinoses

• Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)

Recipient

• Leigh’s Disease

• Leiomyosarcoma

• Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis

• Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)

• Lewy Body Dementia

• Liposarcoma—metastatic or recurrent

• Lissencephaly

• Liver Cancer

• Lowe Syndrome

• Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis—

Grade III

• Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas—

Childhood

• Malignant Ectomesenchymoma

• Malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal

Tumor

• Malignant Germ Cell Tumor

• Malignant Melanoma—with metastases

• Malignant Multiple Sclerosis







• Malignant Renal Rhabdoid Tumor

• Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)

• Maple Syrup Urine Disease

• Marshall-Smith Syndrome

• Mastocytosis—Type IV

• MECP2 Duplication Syndrome

• Medulloblastoma—with metastases

• Menkes Disease—Classic or Infantile

Onset Form

• Merkel Cell Carcinoma—with metastases

• Merosin Deficient Congenital

Muscular Dystrophy

• Metachromatic Leukodystrophy

(MLD)—Late Infantile

• Mitral Valve Atresia

• Mixed Dementias

• MPS I, formerly known as Hurler

Syndrome

• MPS II, formerly known as Hunter

Syndrome

• MPS III, formerly known as Sanfilippo

Syndrome

• Mucosal Malignant Melanoma

• Multicentric Castleman Disease

• Multiple System Atrophy

• Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red

Fibers Syndrome

• Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy

• Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis

• Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron

Accumulation—Types 1 and 2

• NFU-1 Mitochondrial Disease

• Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD)—Type A

• Niemann-Pick Disease—Type C

• Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia



CHAPTER 5  |  PROVING YOU ARE DISABLED  |  141



• Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer—with

metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes

or inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent

• Obliterative Bronchiolitis

• Ohtahara Syndrome

• Oligodendroglioma Brain Tumor—

Grade III

• Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC)

Deficiency

• Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with

Pigmented Glia

• Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI)—Type II

• Osteosarcoma, formerly known as

Bone Cancer —with distant metastases

or inoperable or unresectable

• Ovarian Cancer—with distant meta­

stases or inoperable or unresectable

• Pallister-Killian Syndrome

• Pancreatic Cancer

• Paraneoplastic Pemphigus

• Patau Syndrome (Trisomy 13)

• Pearson Syndrome

• Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease—Classic

Form

• Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease—

Connatal Form

• Peripheral Nerve Cancer—metastatic

or recurrent

• Peritoneal Mesothelioma

• Peritoneal Mucinous Carcinomatosis

• Perry Syndrome

• Phelan-McDermid Syndrome

• Pleural Mesothelioma

• Pompe Disease—Infantile

• Primary Cardiac Amyloidosis



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• Primary Central Nervous System

Lymphoma

• Primary Effusion Lymphoma

• Primary Progressive Aphasia

• Progressive Bulbar Palsy

• Progressive Multifocal

Leukoencephalopathy

• Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

• Prostate Cancer—Hormone Refractory

Disease—or with visceral metastases

• Pulmonary Atresia

• Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma

• Retinopathy of Prematurity—Stage V

• Rett (RTT) Syndrome

• Revesz Syndrome

• Rhabdomyosarcoma

• Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata

• Roberts Syndrome

• Salivary Tumors

• Sandhoff Disease

• Schindler Disease—Type 1

• Seckel Syndrome

• Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

—Childhood

• Single Ventricle

• Sinonasal Cancer

• Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome

• Small Cell Cancer (of the Large Intestine,

Ovary, Prostate, Thymus, or Uterus)

• Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Small Intestine Cancer—with distant

metastases or inoperable, unresectable,

or recurrent

• Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome

• Soft Tissue Sarcoma—with distant

metastases or recurrent



• Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)—

Types 0 and 1

• Spinal Nerve Root Cancer—metastatic

or recurrent

• Spinocerebellar Ataxia

• Stiff Person Syndrome

• Stomach Cancer—with distant metastases

or inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent

• Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis

• Tabes Dorsalis

• Tay Sachs Disease—Infantile Type

• Thanatophoric Dysplasia—Type 1

• Thyroid Cancer (anaplastic)

• Transplant Coronary Artery

Vasculopathy

• Tricuspid Atresia

• Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

• Ureter Cancer—with distant metastases

or inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent

• Usher Syndrome—Type I

• Walker Warburg Syndrome

• Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome

• Wolman Disease

• X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disease

• X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy

• Xeroderma Pigmentosum

• Zellweger Syndrome

Compassionate allowances apply to both

SSDI and SSI claims. The five-month waiting period for SSDI claims is not waived by

having a compassionate allowance. The waiting period is established by federal law and

cannot be reversed by SSA’s compassionate

allowance initiative.