To the Editor: Chances are you know someone with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or kidney failure. ESRD affects people of all ages and backgrounds. My kidneys failed despite the fact that I had a healthy lifestyle, and it was a hard pill to swallow. The only two treatments available for kidney failure are transplants — which are scarce — and dialysis, the treatment that removes extra fluid and waste products from your blood when your kidneys can’t. I received dialysis treatment for seven years before receiving a transplant in 2023. Dialysis is an expensive treatment. Thankfully, my Congressman, Paul [...]

Dialysis patients and families of the 9th Congressional District need your help. In 2022, the Supreme Court decided that group health plans do not violate the Medicare Secondary Payer Plan (MSP) law by changing the benefits for dialysis patients, which could force them into government coverage. This decision will place dialysis patients and their families in severe financial hardship, as Medicare only covers 80% of our health care expenses. Only recently did my state look at increasing patient access to private plans to help us cover the remaining 20%. In the meantime, we face restricted access to care and even [...]

Editor, I’ve been on dialysis for more than 20 years, and I, like many other patients, struggle to afford the treatments that keep me alive. America’s health insurance system is supposed to give all patients equal support, but for dialysis patients, it doesn’t feel that way. The Supreme Court ruled that private insurers could automatically transition dialysis patients to Medicare instead of allowing them to stay on their private insurance for 30 months. When you first start dialysis, you’re quite sick and the experience can be traumatic, so it’s a terrible time to not only switch health plans but to [...]

My daughter Dianne passed away at the age of 45 due to complications related to kidney failure, or End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Anyone who has lost a child knows the indescribable loss I experienced. However, few people understand the financial burdens ESRD patients face in addition to managing their health. I am extremely grateful that Medicare, combined with the benefits provided by the state of Pennsylvania, covered the bulk of Dianne’s healthcare expenses. Other patients, though, rely on employer-provided private insurance to cover their health care costs, especially in the beginning months of care before switching to Medicare.  Yet, [...]

Dear Editor: Kidney failure, known as end stage renal disease (ESRD), brought many difficulties to my life. I had high blood pressure and diabetes, which ultimately caused my kidneys to fail. My kidney disease went undiagnosed for a long time, and when I was diagnosed, my husband, daughter and grandson had all recently passed away. I was already going through so much. My diagnosis made things even harder. Despite physical and financial problems, I’ve managed to persevere on dialysis resiliently. Financially, I’ve relied on Medicare and Medicaid, but I still have to pay out of pocket for many medications. It’s [...]

Living with kidney failure is hard, but it may become even harder. The Supreme Court issued a ruling that may give private insurers the power to weaken coverage for dialysis in the traditionally covered first 30 months of dialysis. This could push patients off their insurance too quickly and leave them with ridiculously high bills. I started dialysis treatment when I was 16 years old. Appointments, treatments and medications clouded my life like an incoming storm. Yet, I was lucky enough to not worry about bills since I had my mother’s private insurance. Without it, we would have been left [...]

Kidney failure changes patients’ lives. I see patients battle kidney failure every day as a social worker at a dialysis clinic where they receive life-saving treatment. Unfortunately, physical hardships are only the beginning. As a social worker, I help dialysis patients deal with insurance companies. It is a challenging task: dialysis is costly, and insurance companies do their best to avoid paying. Nevertheless, private insurance gives patients the best opportunity to receive kidney transplants. Allowing kidney patients to keep their private insurance gives them the best shot. However, a recent Supreme Court decision allows private insurance companies to push patients [...]