Are you unable to work because of kidney disease? If so, there's a good chance you qualify for monthly payments and free health insurance from the U.S. government. We’ll help you figure out whether you qualify and what to do next.
Lots of kidney disease patients— rich and poor alike — get benefits from Social Security Disability. For patients and their families, this help can be life-changing. But not everyone with kidney disease is eligible, and government rules can make qualifying a nightmare. At Atticus, we help people cut through the red tape and get the benefits they need. We’ll explain clearly how this program work for people with kidney disease, then tell you what to do if you want to qualify.
Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) is a government program that supports Americans who are medically unable to work. When someone says they’re “on disability” for a long period, they usually mean that they’re getting payments from Social Security Disability.
The program is huge: About 10 million Americans receive SSDI today, and about 2% of every U.S. paycheck goes to fund the program via taxes.
People who qualify for Social Security Disability get two big benefits:
In order to qualify for SSDI, six things usually have to be true:
* If you didn’t work previously, but you and your family have very little money, you can still qualify for a related program called Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”), and the rest of this article will still largely apply to you.
Qualifying is never easy: The government treats claims with suspicion, and rejects most applicants. But if you meet the criteria above, you can likely get benefits with the right help.
Kidney disease is any condition that affects the ability of your kidneys to function. About 37 million people in the United States suffer from kidney disease, but most people don’t realize they have it.
In early stages, most people can live a normal life with kidney disease, but some people have symptoms that make it difficult to work. They might experience itchiness, headaches, fatigue, weight loss, and nausea. Sometimes, kidney disease can cause pain or numbness your feet or hands (peripheral neuropathy), or bone pain. It can also lead to high blood disease, heart conditions, or even stroke. Sometimes the kidneys stop functioning altogether. If that happens, you might need dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Because of these symptoms, many people with kidney disease lose their jobs and find themselves unable to earn a living.
Yes. As a general rule, if you need dialysis or a kidney transplant, or if your chronic kidney disease causes severe symptoms like extreme weight loss, pain or numbness, you’ll qualify as disabled. If you aren't experiencing serious symptoms, you probably won't qualify.
Some quick background: Under government rules, some medical conditions – like needing a kidney transplant or losing both your legs – always qualify a patient as disabled. Others - like pregnancy - are never enough. Kidney disease is somewhere in between: You can qualify due to kidney disease, but just being diagnosed isn't enough. Instead, it depends on how far along your illness has progressed and how your condition and treatment impact you.
Kidney disease usually qualifies you for benefits if any of these are true:
The formal guidelines are complicated, but it boils down to this: If you can’t work because of your condition despite trying to overcome it, and as a result you just can’t hold a job, you’ll probably qualify as disabled with proper help.
If you can’t work because of kidney disease, you should probably apply for benefits. It’s free and the help can be life-changing. But applying does take time and effort, and not everyone qualifies — so it’s only worthwhile if you have a chance of success. Here’s our advice:
Are not working, and
Whether you decide to apply now or later, the best thing you can do in the meantime is to get as much medical care as possible. Get in to see a nephrologist (kidney doctor), try the treatment they recommend, and go back for follow-up visits. This will help build the paper trail you need to get benefits. And more importantly, it’s critical for your health.
Atticus exists to help to people navigating this process — so the easiest thing to do is get free advice tailored to your situation via our online tools or caring staff. (People love us, and we don’t charge anything for our help.)
Applying for disability takes preparation. You can win, but this system doesn’t make it easy. So it’s worth taking some time to understand how things work.
The first step is to make a choice: Do you want to (a) Apply on your own, or (b) Get a professional to handle the process for you? Most successful applicants hire a professional— and for kidney disease patients in particular, that’s generally the right call. But not everyone needs to, and not everyone who wants to can. We’ll explain both paths and help you decide.
The government fears that people will exaggerate their medical problems in order to get free money. So it puts every applicant under a microscope. To win, you have to prove — beyond a doubt — that your medical condition is severe and disabling.
There are two major stages in the process, and most people will need to go through both:
Unfortunately, the process takes time: 3-6 months to get an initial decision, and 1-2 years (or more) to get a hearing. Even a small mistake or omission (like a doctor failing to send in records, or bad answer on a form) can doom an application. The good news is that once you win – even if it takes a long time and several appeals – you get “back pay” (retroactive benefits) for the time you should have been getting benefits.
Because the process is so complicated, most successful applicants get a lawyer (or trained non-lawyer representative) to help. Lawyers will pull together your medical records, write your application, advise you on getting proper medical treatment, submit all the paperwork, and (if needed) argue your case before a judge.
There are two big upsides to hiring a lawyer: (1) They do almost all the work for you and hold your hand through the process. (2) They increase your chance of winning. (Government studies show that at the appeal stage, people with a lawyer are three times as likely to qualify.)
The only downside is cost. Lawyers aren’t allowed to charge any up-front fee so it doesn’t matter if you can afford one right now. If they win your case, they get 25% of any back pay (retroactive benefits) that they win for you. This is worth it for almost everyone — you only pay if you win (if you lose, you pay nothing), you only pay once, and the cost pales in comparison to the amount you get.
Almost every applicant that applies because of kidney disease should hire a lawyer or other professional. (We don’t say this to everyone — see, for example, our articles on Huntington’s disease or pancreatic cancer.)
Why? This process can be particularly unfair for kidney disease patients. Since it’s hard to diagnose (there’s no official test for it) and isn’t usually disabling, the government treats kidney disease patients with suspicion and requires detailed proof. Having assistance from an expert can make all the difference.
There are only a handful of situations where we tell kidney disease patients to consider applying on their own:
Atticus is a new kind of law firm that helps you navigate the early stages of a disability claim. We help you choose the right approach, hire the right lawyer, and get on with your life. We won’t charge you a dime for our services, so there’s no cost to you.
At the bottom of many websites, you'll find a small disclaimer: "We are not a law firm and are not qualified to give legal advice." If you see this, run the other way. These people can't help you: they're prohibited by law from giving meaningful advice, recommending specific lawyers, or even telling you whether you need a lawyer at all. Most make money by selling advertisements or hawking your personal information to the highest bidder.
There's no disclaimer here: Atticus is a law firm, and we are qualified to give legal advice. We can answer your most pressing questions, make clear recommendations, and search far and wide to find the right lawyer for you. It's not easy: being a licensed law firm subjects us to complex regulations and requires painstaking work. But it's worth it, because it means we can truly help our clients as they take on life's biggest challenges. Others can't.
Two important things to note: If we give you legal advice, it will be through a lawyer on our staff communicating with you directly. (Don't make important decisions about your case based solely on this or any other website.) And if we take you on as a client, it will be through a document you sign. (No attorney-client relationship arises from using this site or calling us.) If any of this isn't clear, please reach out: we're always happy to explain more.