What Does Social Security Consider a Qualified Kidney Condition?
Many people are unaware how vital the kidneys are to your health and wellbeing. Kidney disease can cause severe fatigue, sickness, and even death. Kidney disease is often difficult to understand because the only way to diagnose it is with laboratory testing, which means elevated hormone levels and numbers that make little sense to the average person. This is why if you are considering Social Security Disability because of a kidney related condition, you should contact us.
How Does Social Security View Heart Conditions?
When Social Security looks at the severity of your condition to determine if you are medically eligible for the benefit or not, they look at two main criteria. The two main questions Social Security asks are whether your condition meets or equals a listing, or whether your condition affects your ability to do certain tasks so much that you can no longer perform any kind of work competitively.
Listings: Listings are 14 different types of conditions, that if you meet the exact criteria Social Security has set up, you will be considered medically eligible for Disability.
Social Security does offer 2 listings for Kidney Failure, which has very strict guidelines. To better understand if your kidney condition meets the listing you should contact us at 1-800-488-4775.
Impairment of Renal Function (Listing 6.02)
If you suffer from a chronic kidney disease that causes poor kidney function you can automatically get disability if you have one of the following:
- Ongoing dialysis
- Kidney Transplant
- Persistent high levels of serum creatinine or low creatinine clearance levels
- Nephrotic Syndrome (Listing 6.06)
To be eligible under Listing 6.06 you must have evidence of excess protein in your urine or edema (swelling). You must have evidence of extreme swelling for at least 3 months and:
- Extremely high protein levels in your urine
- Low serum albumin levels with elevated protein levels in your urine
Again, to specifically speak about your case, you should contact our office and speak to one of our attorneys at 1-800-488-4775.
Functional Ability:
If you do not meet the listing for a condition, or if a specific listing does not exist for your condition, you can still win your case if you show that you are unable to do any sort of competitive work due to your condition.
Many people are discouraged when they hear that their condition may not exactly meet a listing, and they think that their case has no shot, but this is not the case. Most people who are awarded benefits because of diabetes win by proving that their kidney condition affects their ability to function on a day-to-day basis.
To prove your case based on your functional ability you have to show that your specific kidney condition would keep you from being able to perform any full time work for at least one year. Proving that a kidney condition keeps you from doing any work can be quite difficult. Our attorneys work with your doctors to show how your physical limitations make it impossible for you to do full time work. We focus on the basic physical limitations such as lifting, carrying, walking, standing, bending, etc. However, we also work with your doctors to explain your fatigue, your prescription side effects, and also how your condition will likely cause you to miss a significant amount of work.
Call our office today and see if you qualify:
While we provide the information above about Social Security Disability benefits so that you will better understand if you are eligible, the best way to check your eligibility is by calling our office and speaking to one of our client service representatives today. You may reach our office toll free at 1-800-488-4775.