Social Security Disability: Kidney Diseases

Kidney disorders are not necessarily a frequent claim to see if applications for Social Security Disability; however they certainly do occur. The Social Security Administration categorizes these as “genitourinary disorders resulting in chronic kidney disease (CKD)”. Some sub-categories Social Security also lists for disability are chronic kidney disease with chronic hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, chronic kidney disease with a kidney transplant, chronic kidney disease with impairment of kidney function, nephrotic syndrome, and complications of chronic kidney disease.

Kidney dysfunction can be caused by many different situations and as such can also have varying symptoms. For Disability, Social Security looks for how severely this kidney impairment affects you on a daily basis. Simply saying you have side pain or the like and think it is your kidney is not enough to approve you Disability application. Social Security mentions (aside from general medical records) an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to show how poorly your kidney(s) is functioning. They also mention a pathology report from a kidney or bone biopsy to help support your claim.

Kidney function, or in this case dysfunction, may not make up a large percentage of the people applying for Social Security Disability; however, as a Disability attorney, I have seen that these people are often struggling the most. If you are considering applying or have been denied Social Security Disability, I would be happy to discuss your claim or possibly represent you as your Social Security Disability attorney.