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Alpha-1 Foundation, Association seek meeting to present case for "Compassionate Allowance" for Alpha-1 disability
WASHINGTON — The Alpha-1 Foundation and the Alpha-1 Association on Thursday sought a meeting with Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue to make the case that Alpha-1 be on the “Compassionate Allowance” list of disabilities that are fast-tracked for Social Security disability benefits.
Miriam O’Day, senior director, public policy, for the Foundation and Association, requested the meeting after Alpha-1 was omitted from the list.
Earlier Thursday. the Social Security Administration announced the addition of 12 more conditions to the Compassionate Allowances list, bringing the total to 100.
Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security’s standards for disability benefits. These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children.
According to Thursday’s announcement, Social Security approved more than 100,000 people for benefits under fast-tracking last year, usually in less than two weeks.
O’Day’s letter called Alpha-1 a “super-orphan” disease because less than 10 percent of the estimated 100,000 people in the United States with Alpha-1 have been diagnosed. She pointed out that Alpha-1 often disables people in the prime of life.
