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The Commissioner of Social Security announced the agency is adding 38 new conditions to its list of Compassionate Allowances. This is the first expansion of the list since the original 50 conditions - 25 rare diseases and 25 cancers - were determined in October 2008. The new conditions range from adult brain disorders to rare childhood diseases.

"The addition of these new conditions expands the scope of Compassionate Allowances to a broader subgroup of conditions like early-onset Alzheimer's disease," stated Commissioner Astrue. "The expansion we are announcing today means tens of thousands of Americans with devastating disabilities will now get approved for benefits in a matter of days rather than months and years."

Compassionate Allowances quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that clearly qualify for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits. Allowances help the agency to electronically target and make rapid decisions for the most obviously disabled individuals. In developing the expanded list of conditions, Social Security held public hearings and worked closely with numerous national organizations.

"We will continue to hold hearings and look for other diseases and conditions that can be added to our list of Compassionate Allowances," Commissioner Astrue reported. "There can be no higher priority than getting disability benefits quickly to those Americans with these severe and life-threatening conditions."

Social Security will begin electronically identifying these 38 new conditions March 1.
For more information about the agency's Compassionate Allowances initiative, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

New Compassionate Allowance Conditions

Alstrom Syndrome
Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
Ataxia Spinocerebellar
Ataxia Telangiectasia
Batten Disease
Bilateral Retinoblastoma
Cri du Chat Syndrome
Degos Disease
Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Edwards Syndrome
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Glutaric Acidemia Type II
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), Familial Type
Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
Hunter Syndrome, Type II
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
Leigh's Disease
Maple Syrup Urine Disease
Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Mixed Dementia
Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, Infantile Type
Niemann-Pick Type C
Patau Syndrome
Primary Progressive Aphasia
Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
Sanfilippo Syndrome
Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
Tay Sachs Disease
Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Walker Warburg Syndrome
Wolman Disease
Zellweger Syndrome

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency is making new data regarding beneficiaries and disability processes available to the public. The new data supports the President's Transparency and Open Government initiative.

"I applaud President Obama's commitment to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government and the new datasets we are posting far exceed what was asked of us," Commissioner Astrue said. "Social Security has always valued transparency and sought to give the public user-friendly information about our programs. Each year we send millions of Americans personal information about their Social Security contributions and potential benefits. Our website http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ has a wealth of information about our programs and the Social Security trust funds. I hope the new data we are making available will lead to a better understanding of our operations and the important role we play in people's lives. I look forward to engaging Americans in the business of their government."
Here are a few examples of benefits of the Social Security datasets available today:

Researchers can find out about the work-related experiences of our beneficiaries receiving Social Security disability benefits and give us policy guidance for our disability programs.

The public can see information about hearings workloads and a breakdown of the types of decisions made by Administrative Law Judges.

Researchers can study the effects of current and proposed legislative and program provisions.

People who have requested a hearing on their disability claim can estimate the amount of time they may have to wait for the hearing to be held and for a decision.

"These new datasets are just the beginning of our efforts. In February we will launch our Open Government webpage that will include improved access to our data in a variety of formats. In April we will publish our Open Government plan," said Commissioner Astrue. "Let me also reassure all Americans that while our goal is to become more open and transparent, we will continue to vigilantly protect the personal information the public entrusts to us. We will ensure that transparency does not put that information at risk."

To read the President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOPenGovernment