New Legislation and Old Solutions: Employment Following Renal Transplantation Revisited.

Abstract

Employment (i.e., return to work) and renal replacement therapy have been linked since the original discussions for the 1972 Social Security Amendment. This legislation deemed individuals with end-stage renal disease disabled for the purpose of Medicare eligibility and access to treatment. Proponents of the legislation suggested that 60% of those who received renal replacement therapy would resume employment following vocational rehabilitation, and the majority of the remaining 40% would return to work with no intervention (Kutner & Brogan, 1985; Rettig, 1984). Achieving this optimistic prediction has been elusive, and post-transplant employment outcomes have been disappointing. Nevertheless, the number of renal transplants has risen yearly, with 17,094 transplants being performed during 2006, 80.8% for individuals ages 18 to 64 (Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, n.d [a]). Thus, the majority of patients who undergo renal transplantation are working-age adults and many do not return to the labor force.