Kylle’ D. McKinney.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED)

Every March, we pay special attention to the kidney, an organ vital to a healthy life. Social Security wants to help spread the word about the importance of kidney health and about what you should do if you think you or a loved one has a kidney-related disability.

Kidney disease prevents your kidneys from cleansing blood to its full potential. Did you know that one out of three Americans is currently at high risk for developing kidney disease? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 20 million Americans have chronic kidney disease, and most don’t know it.

Ebie is a prime example. Ebie was an emergency room worker with an active life. He had no idea he’d developed a kidney condition until one day he felt ill while driving to work and called a coworker for help.

Our Faces and Facts of Disability website features Ebie’s story. He says people who receive Social Security disability benefits “can provide for themselves better and have a high quality of life.” As Ebie explains, many people with kidney diseases can greatly increase their quality of life with Social Security benefits. You can learn more about Ebie’s story at www.socialsecurity.gov/disabilityfacts.

If a kidney disease such as end-stage renal disease (known as ESRD) requires chronic dialysis and prevents you from working, Social Security may be able to help you. If you’re undergoing dialysis, have had a kidney transplant, have persistent low creatinine clearance levels, or have persistent high serum creatinine levels, you may qualify for disability and/or Medicare benefits. You can find more information about eligibility based on kidney disease and the benefits available by reading our publications, Disability Benefits and Medicare, both available at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

Listed as one of Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances conditions, kidney cancer is another condition that may qualify you for disability and Medicare benefits. The Compassionate Allowances program assists in cases where a person’s medical condition is so severe it obviously meets Social Security’s disability standards—allowing quick processing of the disability application and payment of benefits. You can find more information about Compassionate Allowances by visiting our website at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

Drink plenty of water, go for checkups, and if you think you may have a kidney disease, take action right away! As Ebie says, “quality of life is everything.”

If you think you may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits based on a kidney disease, check www.socialsecurity.gov/disabilityssi.

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Demanding urgent intervention of the Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, Asharfi Lal, a kidney-patient who needs haemo-dialysis twice a week has written to him stating that “without help he would not be able to live long”.

“The expenditure incurred on my haemo-dialysis is Rs. 6,000 per week, where as my monthly family income is limited to a meagre pension of Rs. 11,600. With this I have to support myself, my wife, my daughter and her son and another unwed daughter. Under these circumstances it is difficult for me to bear the cost of haemo-dialysis,” Mr. Lal noted.

Taking up his case advocate Ashok Agarwal noted that Mr. Lal has been denied free haemo-dialysis facility which is provided to the poor and deserving patient by Delhi Health Services.

“The patient had approached Delhi Health Services for assistance under the Delhi Government’s scheme for free dialysis and was asked to produce an income-certificate. However, when he produced the income-certificate showing his actual family-income, he was informed that he is ineligible for the benefit as only those patients who have a family-income under Rs.1 lakh are covered under the scheme,” said Mr. Agarwal.

Mr. Lal is neither in a position to afford haemo-dialysis nor eligible for free haemo-dialysis under the scheme. Also haemo-dialysis is the only hope for his survival and denial thereof amounts to violation of his Fundamental Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, noted the advocate.

“We request the Minister to urgently extend the facility of free haemo-dialysis to this patient in view of his genuine need. At least in this case the Government should reconsider its policy in view of the fact that kidney-failure patients are completely dependent upon heamo-dialysis for their survival and even those who do not fall within the stipulated income-limit may not be in a position to afford the cost of the same,’’ the advocate wrote in his appeal to the Minister.

The Delhi Health Services informed the patient that he was ineligible for the benefit as it was only for those who have a family-income under Rs.1 lakh

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the RUN take:

Initiative 0by25, launched by a commission from The Lancetand the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), calls for preventable deaths from Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) to be eliminated by the year 2025. 

1 in 5 adults admitted to a hospital worldwide develops AKI, according to new estimates from the Commission. Yet, most cases can be prevent or treated with peritoneal dialysis at low cost. 

To achieve their ambitious goal, the Commission will go on a fact-finding mission to clarify the problem of AKI in various countries. It will also raise awareness to improve patient care based on 5 Rs: individual risk, recognition of AKI, response, renal support, and rehabilitation. The final goal is to gather funding from governments, charities, and other stakeholders. 

In high-income countries, AKI often results from surgery and medications delivered during hospitalizations. In low- and middle-income countries, the condition develops following infections or toxin exposure.

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