Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits help to support people who cannot work. Adults who experience a decline in their capabilities due to medical challenges can potentially apply for SSDI benefits.
If a medical condition is likely to last a year or longer and prevents a professional from maintaining any form of gainful employment, they may potentially be eligible for SSDI benefits. Kidney failure can be painful and downright debilitating. People may not respond to treatment, which means their symptoms could slowly worsen and might even endanger their lives.
Can people experiencing kidney failure expect to qualify for SSDI benefits?
The level of decline is the deciding factor
Many forms of kidney disease are manageable and do not prevent people from working. Medical experts actually break chronic kidney disease, or kidney failure, down into five distinct stages.
Levels one through three are largely manageable through dietary changes, lifestyle adjustments and possibly medication. Level four kidney failure requires more aggressive interventions. Once kidney failure reaches the fifth stage, the patient likely requires regular, invasive medical care.
Specifically, they may need to undergo weekly dialysis. Dialysis is a complex medical procedure in which medical machinery filters the blood the way that the kidneys usually should. Other times, people in late-stage kidney failure must wait on a donor list for a transplant. Both options may leave people too sick to work at all.
Establishing a particular stage of kidney failure is often a key component to proving that it is a potentially qualifying condition. People seeking SSDI benefits for kidney failure may need help filling out paperwork and gathering necessary medical evidence regardless, and that’s okay.