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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 605 blog entries.

Bipartisan, Bicameral Members of Congress Urge Biden Administration to Finalize Organ Procurement Reforms

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00March 16th, 2021|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article|

A coalition of congressional leaders from the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform today urged the Biden administration to finalize a rule to reform the organ procurement system in the United States. The letter, sent to Acting Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Norris Cochran was signed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Todd Young, R-Ind.; House Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., and Ranking Member James Comer, R-Ky.; House COR Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi, [...]

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Dialysis Patient Citizens Commends Reintroduction of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00March 12th, 2021|Categories: Press Release|

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) released the following statement today thanking Congresswomen Cynthia Axne (D-IA-03) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-03) for introducing the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act (H.R. 1676) in honor of founding DPC Board member and longest-serving president Jack Reynolds. The bill, which was originally introduced last year, would expand Medigap coverage for patients under 65 who suffer from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). "Currently, it's up to each state to determine whether Medigap plans are sold to the more than 9 million people younger than 65 years old who could qualify because of their kidney illnesses," Rep. Axne said. "The issue that [...]

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DPC’s Letter to Elizabeth Fowler, Deputy Administrator for CMMI

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00March 8th, 2021|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Medicare Advantage|

Ms. Elizabeth Fowler, Deputy Administrator Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation 2810 Lord Baltimore Drive Windsor Mill, MD 21244. Dear Ms. Fowler: We are seeking a bottom-up review of the ESRD Treatment Choice (ETC) demonstration including consideration of other options to pilot innovations to improve home dialysis take-up and kidney transplantation. Like other kidney advocates, we appreciated the long-overdue cabinet-level attention that was paid to these issues under the Trump administration. But, the ETC program is flawed in concept and execution, and represents a missed opportunity to address pressing problems. As explained in greater detail below, we think it would be [...]

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Dori Wolf: Kidney Care

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00March 8th, 2021|Categories: Care Coordination, Patient's Voice, Spotlight|

By Dori Wolf of Woodland, CA, DPC Patient Ambassador Finding out I had kidney disease in 1984 forced me to change a lot in my life. Thankfully, due to my work to stay healthy, I was able to avoid needing dialysis until 2007. Starting dialysis was a draining experience that required drastic changes to my diet and exercise habits, despite constantly feeling unwell. However, with the support of my family, I’ve been able to follow doctors’ advice and keep up with treatments. A major frustration, however, has been a lack of coordination in my care. I have 32 allergies to [...]

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DPC Advocates Advance Dialysis Patient Issues at the State Level

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00February 19th, 2021|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Medigap Coverage, Patient Ambassadors, Patient's Voice, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection|

Despite the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis, many state legislators recognize the added challenges faced by dialysis patients every day. Some have responded by introducing legislation to increased dialysis patient access to Medigap plans to help patients cover their 20% coinsurance expenses. Others are working to advance legislation to help increase the pool of living kidney donors. DPC would like to recognize some of the patient leaders who are elevating the patient voice by educating state legislators on the importance of these efforts. DPC Board Members Adrian Miller and Pius Charles Murray are pressing for passage of critical legislation in their [...]

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The BETTER Kidney Care Act is an important step forward

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00February 19th, 2021|Categories: Care Coordination, Patient's Voice, Spotlight|

By Bryce Mumford, DPC Patient Ambassador My experience with dialysis extends four years: from when my first kidney transplant failed in 2014 to when I received my second transplant in 2018. During that time, the most frustrating thing I encountered was a lack of care coordination. I bounced between several doctors who treated my various health issues independently. Every doctor’s visit required me to provide my full medical history, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. This was a burdensome task while still working a full-time job to support my family. However, my treatment center began implementing greater care coordination. This meant [...]

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President Declares State of Emergency in Texas

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00February 15th, 2021|Categories: Article, Transportation Services|

The winter storm that recently crippled the state of Texas was difficult to watch, knowing millions of people were struggling to access electricity, heat, and clean water. But this situation was even more dire for dialysis patients whose lives literally depend on these resources, as well as the access to safe transportation to them. If you or a loved one are in need of assistance after this storm, please visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ to apply for assistance. Additionally, as a dialysis patient, should you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, please visit https://www.kcercoalition.com/en/patients/ for more information.

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Open Enrollment Period for Current Medicare Advantage Members

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00January 25th, 2021|Categories: Article, Medicare Advantage|

From January 1 – March 31 each year, if you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan or switch to Original Medicare (and join a separate Medicare drug plan) once during this time. If you enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan during your Initial Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7 last year) you can change to another Medicare Advantage Plan or go back to Original Medicare within the first 3 months of 2021. To help kidney patients explore their options, Dialysis Patient Citizens has established Dialysis Plan Choice, an online tool [...]

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State Legislatures Introduce Bills that Would Positively Impact Dialysis Patients

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00January 22nd, 2021|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medigap Coverage, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection|

With the start of the new year, state legislatures throughout the country are beginning their legislative sessions with a flurry of new bills being introduced on a wide-ranging number of topics. While the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact will dominate much of the activity at state houses across the country this year, we are encouraged that some of the bills already filed this session would improve health outcomes for dialysis patients. Both Arizona and Kentucky have already introduced bills to expand Medicare supplemental insurance, or Medigap. This is significant because Arizona and Kentucky are two of the 28 states that [...]

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Recent Healthcare Activity Focuses on Social Determinants of Health

2024-03-29T01:12:01+00:00January 21st, 2021|Categories: Article, Increase Quality of Care, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage|

The past two years have seen a flurry of activity aimed at addressing "social determinants of health” (SDOH) that historically get short shrift in the health care system. SDOH refers to the range of social, environmental, and economic factors that can influence health status—conditions that can often have a greater impact on health outcomes than the actual delivery of health services. Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to state health officials encouraging strategies in the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to improve health outcomes, reduce health disparities, and lower overall costs in Medicaid [...]

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