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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 629 blog entries.

NIH Seeks Volunteers to Help Cure Diseases and Solve Health Problems

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00February 13th, 2019|Categories: Article, Treatment Options|Tags: |

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is looking for volunteers to participate in the All of Us program, which is a research initiative that tracks the health of U.S. participants. The initiative is not centered around a specific disease or population. Instead, it is intended to accelerate research and improve a large assortment of health conditions by evaluating the impact of lifestyle, environment and biological makeup on health and disease. Participants may elect to help by filling out surveys, sharing electronic health records, getting a physical, sharing fitness tracker data, providing blood and urine samples, and more. The hope is [...]

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DPC’s Advocacy Day Application is NOW OPEN!

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00January 31st, 2019|Categories: Article, Take Action|

As highlighted last month, Dialysis Patient Citizens would like to reiterate our gratitude for all of your efforts to elevate the patient voice with policy makers in 2018. To say thanks, we would like to invite you to apply for our 2019 Advocacy Day! We are very fortunate that we are able to bring dialysis patients to Washington, D.C. each year to meet with their elected officials. This provides advocates like you with the unique opportunity to make your voice heard on behalf of dialysis patients from your state in order to improve dialysis care. This year is no exception. We will [...]

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Getting to Know Your Members of Congress

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: Article, Take Action|

DPC Board Member Andrew Conkling with Alabama Representative Gary Palmer Part of the responsibility of advocating for your health is getting informed about and building relationships with your local lawmakers. The 2018 midterm elections brought in more than 100 new Representatives on January 3, 2019, many of whom have never held elected office. A lot of these new Members are women and minorities. Now is great time to start getting to know your local lawmakers to educate them on kidney disease and to share your story. How to Look Up Your Members of Congress Do you know your members [...]

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Become a Member of DPC and Save on Top Brands

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00January 2nd, 2019|Categories: About DPC, Article, Get Involved|

Treat yourself this year with the gift of free DPC membership. One of the perks we offer our members is discounts on top brands. If you are planning to purchase a computer, rent a car, move to a new home, ship a package, print materials or buy office supplies, you could benefit from DPC membership. Become a member and join almost 40,000 patients, family members, health professionals and friends that help to elevate the voice of individuals with chronic kidney disease. Join Dialysis Patient Citizens.

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Happy Holidays and DPC’s Top 10 Accomplishments of 2018

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00December 19th, 2018|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, Get Involved, Medicare Advantage, Medigap Coverage, Take Action, Transplant Donor Protection|Tags: |

Dialysis Patient Citizens wants to wish you and your family a Happy Holiday, as well as a safe and healthy New Year. We also want to take this opportunity to share with you our Top 10 list of accomplishments for 2018, which would not have been possible without your support. Thank you for helping us elevate the dialysis patient voice with policy makers. We are extremely grateful for all of your efforts, and we look forward to our continued collaboration in 2019 as we work together to improve dialysis patient quality of life.

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The Lame Duck Congress

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00December 5th, 2018|Categories: Article, Care Coordination|

The 115th Congress has three remaining weeks to conduct business before the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2019. With so many outgoing Members and with Democrats taking over control of the House, some speculated Congress would get a lot accomplished during this lame duck session. That, however, does not appear to be the case. Last week, following the passing of President George H.W. Bush, Congress quietly passed a spending bill, which will keep the government running through December 21, 2018. In order to avert a government shutdown, they will need to pass another spending measure before then—right now the biggest contingency [...]

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Remembering Bob Lee

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00November 29th, 2018|Categories: Article, Board Members|

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) Education Center mourns the sudden passing of Board Member Robert “Bob” Lee, 54. Lee was a dedicated activist from Oregon who played a critical role in educating policy makers about the importance of protecting patient choice and access to care. Specifically, his continuous outreach to Senator Wyden helped secure passage of legislation to open Medicare Advantage to dialysis patients. Lee traveled to Washington, DC multiple times to meet with Members of Congress. He also travelled to Salem to testify at hearings before the state insurance commissioner. His involvement with DPC started when he became a Patient [...]

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Medicare Adds Transplant Measure to ESRD Quality Improvement Program

2024-03-29T01:13:37+00:00November 18th, 2018|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article, Quality Incentive Program|

On November 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final annual rule updating payment policies for the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System and the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). Among new quality measures to take effect beginning in 2022 is Percentage of Prevalent Patients Placed on a Transplant Waiting List (PPPW). This measure was already scheduled to be reported for individual clinics, beginning next year, on CMS’ Dialysis Facility Compare website. Adding it to the QIP means that facilities can be penalized if the percentage of their patients waitlisted for transplant is below [...]

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California Residents Vote Against Proposition 8 to Protect Dialysis Patients’ Access to Care

2024-03-29T01:13:37+00:00November 7th, 2018|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, State Advocacy|

With a 62 percent majority vote, California residents voted against proposition 8, which could have had devastating consequences for dialysis patients’ access to care if passed. DPC is grateful for all of the patients and advocates who spoke to their friends, family, and peers about the dangers of this flawed ballot initiative. We will continue our work to elevate the voice of individuals with kidney disease, as we fight for patients' rights and continued access to quality care. There are over 84,0001 individuals in California with kidney failure. If proposition 8 had passed, many dialysis facilities would have faced potential closure, [...]

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Medicare Threat to Vascular Access Centers Delayed

2024-03-29T01:13:37+00:00November 6th, 2018|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care|

Last month we reported that the Centers for Medicaid Services (CMS) was proposing to cut reimbursement for vascular access centers effective January 2019. We’re pleased to report now that CMS is delaying any cuts as it studies the matter further. In recent years, CMS has pushed for “site-neutral payments,” meaning that Medicare pays the same for procedures regardless of whether they are performed in a doctor’s office or a more costly hospital setting. Specifically, this means paying at the lowest rate. In the case of vascular surgery for dialysis access, CMS proposed to pay the “office-based” rate, which would not suffice to keep [...]

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