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 [...]

My father’s battle with end-stage renal disease changed our family’s life. I cared for him as he endured dialysis for two years, showing immense courage. He received two transplants, including one of my kidneys, but sadly, he passed away. In his memory, I now advocate for kidney patients and am pursuing a master’s degree in physiology at Georgetown University. Dialysis patients like my father often face financial hardships. As a business owner, he paid up to $1,400 monthly for private insurance to receive better treatment options than state insurance could provide. Previously, end-stage renal disease patients could keep their private [...]