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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 605 blog entries.

DPC’s 2020 Annual Membership Survey is Live!

2024-03-29T01:12:03+00:00August 6th, 2020|Categories: 5-Star Ratings, Access to Transplant, Article, Care Coordination, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dental Coverage, Dialysis Funding, Get Involved, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Innovation, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, Medigap Coverage, Quality Incentive Program, Take Action, Transplant Donor Protection, Transportation Services, Treatment Options|Tags: |

Elevate the Voice of Patients with Kidney Disease and Their Caregivers Our 2020 Annual Membership Survey is live, and it will remain open until Friday, August 21. We are counting on your participation, as patient feedback helps to shape our public policy agenda and patient education priorities for the next year. This year we ask that both patients and caregivers take our survey. Rest assured your responses will remain completely anonymous. We only share the overall survey results with state and federal level policy makers, so they will better understand your needs, experiences, and preferences. Your feedback is crucial. Therefore, we will [...]

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Action Alert – Help us Increase Patient Access to Immunosuppressive Medications

2024-03-29T01:12:03+00:00July 28th, 2020|Categories: Article, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medicare Advantage, News, Take Action|

The Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (H.R. 5534, S. 3353) is gaining momentum in Congress, and we need your help continuing to get the word out. This bill was introduced by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Michael Burgess (R-TX), as well as Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA). This legislation would extend Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive drugs beyond the current limit of 36 months for patients who are unable to obtain health insurance coverage elsewhere. Immunosuppressive medications play a critical role in preventing transplant recipients from rejecting a donor kidney. Right now, after dialysis patients receive a transplant, [...]

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ESRD Community Honors the Legacy of Congressman John Lewis

2024-03-29T01:12:04+00:00July 27th, 2020|Categories: Medigap Coverage, News|

Our nation recently lost one of its most iconic and stalwart champions for justice in Congressman John Lewis. He dedicated his life to fighting for civil rights and social justice for all Americans, and his legacy will forever be remembered. Congressman Lewis was also one of the kidney community’s most consistent, trustworthy, and respected allies, and we join the nation in mourning his passing. Throughout his more than three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Lewis was a champion for patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and worked with them to increase access to treatment.  Specifically, he repeatedly introduced the Chronic Kidney Disease [...]

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Care Coordination Fixes One of the Biggest Flaws in the American Health Care System

2024-03-29T01:12:04+00:00July 20th, 2020|Categories: Care Coordination, Patient's Voice, Spotlight|

Gloria Rohrer lost a leg after needing multiple surgeries when her kidney transplant failed. Rohrer later lost her eyesight in one eye while vacationing in Florida, which could have been avoided with proper care coordination. She could have shut down and become angry with the world, instead Rohrer became a stalwart advocate for patient access to care coordination services, so that others can avoid similar complications.

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Dialysis Patient Citizens Files Lawsuit Against HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma Over New Regulation That Undercuts Dialysis Patient Access to Affordable, High-Quality Care

2024-03-29T01:12:04+00:00June 22nd, 2020|Categories: Care Coordination, Legal Defense, Medicare Advantage, News, Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 22, 2020) -- Today, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in opposition to a discriminatory new federal regulation that will limit the ability of hundreds of thousands of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients to access affordable, high quality treatment. “ESRD patients successfully fought to get Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would ensure [...]

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Medicare Removes Important Protection for Dialysis Patients in Managed Care Plans

2024-03-29T01:12:04+00:00May 26th, 2020|Categories: Article, Medicare Advantage, Treatment Options|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week issued a regulation for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that eliminates time and distance limits from network adequacy requirements for dialysis facilities. Network adequacy requirements for health plans ensure that patients can have access to all necessary providers with reasonable promptness. Time and distance limits prescribe a maximum driving time or distance in miles that a consumer must travel to get to a doctor or facility. The limits are higher in rural areas. CMS replaced the time and distance limits with another standard, a network “consistent with the prevailing community pattern [...]

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Visit the New Kidney Care Matters Site to Find Out What You Can do to Help Dialysis Patients

2024-03-29T01:12:05+00:00May 22nd, 2020|Categories: Article, Care Coordination, Policy Issues|

Dialysis Patient Citizens is excited to announce that the new Kidney Care Matters website is live. This initiative, led by DPC, is focused on promoting better kidney care through care coordination for people with End-Stage Renal Disease. Coordinated care means that all health care providers serving a patient share information with each other in a timely manner about the patient’s health, treatments prescribed, and care delivered. Well-structured care coordination has the potential to provide a more focused, dedicated care management approach that would streamline care, improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Kidney Care Matters is dedicated to providing patients [...]

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Patient Advocates Raising Awareness Through Letters to the Editor

2024-03-29T01:12:05+00:00May 20th, 2020|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination, Press|

Dialysis Patient Citizens takes great pride in the work that our patient ambassadors are doing each and every day in their communities and local dialysis facilities. Through providing additional education and access to resources for fellow dialysis patients, they help to make a difference in the lives of patients and encourage them to be their own advocates. One of the ways our ambassadors are making their voices heard are through letters to the editor, where they write and submit a letter to the editor to his/her local newspaper about a kidney disease issue and/or the importance of advocating for better [...]

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Sen. Grassley, Leaders in Dialysis Community Pay Tribute to the Late Jack Reynolds, Former DPC President and Founding Board Member

2024-03-29T01:12:05+00:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (May 14, 2020) -- Today, Dialysis Patients Citizens (DPC) released statements from U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and leaders in the dialysis community in honor of the late Jack Reynolds, who served as former DPC president and a founding Board member. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “One of the privileges of public service is meeting Iowans like Jack Reynolds. A farm kid who nearly lost his life at age 4, Jack survived against the odds of a 100-gallon barrel of water crushing his abdomen. By age 22, his internal injuries led to renal failure. For more than 45 years, [...]

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