A claimant, including a child, applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) based
on disability or blindness, may receive up to 6 months of payments prior to the final
determination of disability or blindness if he/she is found to be presumptively disabled
or blind and meets all other eligibility requirements. In order to make a PD or PB
finding, the available evidence must reflect a high degree of probability that the
claimant’s impairment or combination of impairments meets the Social Security Administration
(SSA) definition of disability or blindness. In the case of readily observable impairments
(e.g., amputation of a leg at the hip), a PD/PB finding is possible without medical
or other evidence. In other situations, a PD/PB finding must be based on medical or
non-medical evidence, which, although not sufficient for a formal determination of
disability or blindness, are sufficient to establish a high degree of probability
that the claimant is disabled or blind.
It is possible that a case meets more than one category of expedited cases, e.g.,
Compassionate Allowance (CAL), PD/PB, Terminal Illness (TERI), Quick Disability Decision
(QDD), and Military Casualty/Wounded Warrior (MC/WW) cases.
For information regarding processing:
NOTE: Disability determination services (DDS) legacy systems may only identify one type
of priority case when multiple priority flags are present (e.g., Suicide Risk, Terminal
Illness (TERI), and PD). The disability examiner must review the certified electronic
folder (CEF) or the paper modular disability folder (MDF) to ensure the case is developed
and processed appropriately.