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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 605 blog entries.

DPC Complaint to Department of Labor re: Insurance Plan Discrimination

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 28th, 2016|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Innovation, Private Insurance Coverage|

The Honorable Phyllis C. Borzi Assistant Secretary Employee Benefits Security Administration United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20210 Re: Violations of Part 7 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act Relating to Health Plans’ Treatment of End-Stage Renal Disease Dear Assistant Secretary Borzi: On behalf of the 29,000 dialysis patients and family members that we serve, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) asks that the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigate activities some group health plans have undertaken that we believe discriminate against individuals with kidney failure in violation of Part 7 of the Employee Retirement Income Security [...]

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Dialysis Patient Citizens Applauds Introduction of Dialysis PATIENT Demonstration Bills

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 27th, 2016|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination, Dialysis Funding|

Bipartisan, bicameral legislation mandating a new Medicare demonstration of integrated care for ESRD patients will help spread best practices for treating this population, says beneficiary advocacy group Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC). “As an in-center hemodialysis patient of 41 years, I am well aware of the multiple health issues that a large percentage of my fellow patients have to cope with on a daily basis. Coordinating their care among health providers would lead to better outcomes for patients and reward providers for optimal care with fewer dollars spent overall,” said Jack Reynolds, DPC’s president and a dialysis patient from Carlisle, Iowa. A [...]

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DPC Participates in Home Dialysis Briefing Emphasizing Current Barriers to Treatment

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 6th, 2016|Categories: Improve Access to Care, Medicaid, Treatment Options|

Hrant Jamgochian, CEO of Dialysis Patient Citizens, participated in a congressional briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Home Dialysis on May 16th. DPC joined hip-hop artist David Rush, former U.S. Representative Karen Thurman, Larry Weisberg and Dr. Sue Quaggin to provide policymakers with policy options to improve access to home dialysis. DPC’s most recent membership survey indicated significant insurance barriers to access for home dialysis. However, the largest barrier for most patients was the lack of a care partner. The DPC survey found that while 74% of ESRD patients overall were informed about the option of home hemodialysis, there was an information gap [...]

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DPC Files Legal Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights over Discrimination by Blue Cross Idaho

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 6th, 2016|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance, Legal Defense, State Advocacy|

On behalf of kidney patients nationally, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) filed a legal complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights citing discriminatory behavior by Blue Cross Idaho (BCI) against individuals with kidney failure, a disease which disproportionately impacts minorities. The complaint involves a new BCI policy guideline, targeting policyholders with kidney failure who need three times weekly dialysis to live. Under the policy, BCI screens policyholders with kidney failure to determine how their premiums are paid and dumps individuals who receive financial assistance from the non-profit, federally approved charity, American Kidney Fund (AKF). The non-profit DPC, the nation’s [...]

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Re: Discrimination Against End-Stage Renal Disease Patients by Health Net

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00May 3rd, 2016|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Private Insurance Coverage, State Advocacy|

Janice Rocco California Department of Insurance 300 Capitol Mall Suite 1700 Sacramento, CA 95814 Mary Watanabe Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) 980 9th Street, Suite 500 Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: Discrimination against end-stage renal disease patients by Health Net Dear Deputy Commissioner Rocco and Deputy Director Watanabe: With 29,000 dialysis patient members, over 4,000 of whom reside in California, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) is the nation’s largest patient-led organization representing individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). On behalf of California’s 84,500 ESRD patients, I want to thank you for meeting with us to discuss the Health Net matter, which [...]

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DPC Hosts Successful Advocacy Day

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Article, Care Coordination, Medicare Advantage|Tags: |

After weeks of planning, Dialysis Patient Citizens welcomed 30 patients and family members to Washington, D.C. to meet with their legislators on a beautiful spring day in April for our annual advocacy day. As you may know, last year our advocates were snowed in so we were very grateful for the warmer temperatures this time around! The patient ambassadors who attended this year’s advocacy day traveled from 20 different states and had experience with all modalities; transplant, in-center hemodialysis, home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.  We were also fortunate to welcome 15 partners in care; nurses, social workers and facility administrators [...]

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DPC Delivers Speech on the Importance of Charitable Assistance for Insurance Premiums

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00April 19th, 2016|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance|

For decades, dialysis patients have received financial assistance from nonprofit organizations to help them maintain their private insurance or Medigap coverage. Recently, insurers started to reject these types of payments in an effort to purge kidney patients from their health plans. Jackson Williams, DPC’s Government Affairs Director, and Deborah Darcy, Director of Government Affairs at the American Kidney Fund, presented on this issue at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) National Meeting in New Orleans earlier this month. “For nearly 20 years, the American Kidney Fund has held a Federal Advisory Opinion that enables us to provide grants to [...]

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Patient Access to Electronic Medical Records: Dialysis Patients More Likely to Think It’s Important to View Their Information and More Likely to Do So at Least Once a Month

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00April 19th, 2016|Categories: Article, Improve Access to Care|

DPC’s most recent member survey asked patients their views on access to their electronic medical records to compare their opinions to those of the general public. Many physician practices that use electronic medical records make them available to their patients through secure “patient portals.” Half of dialysis patients say their main doctor gives them online access to their medical information, which is the same rate found for the public as a whole, according to a survey by the National Partnership for Women and Families. Dialysis patients are more likely to think online access important. The DPC survey found that 83 [...]

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Proposed Changes to Dialysis Facility Compare Tool May Make It More Useful

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00March 16th, 2016|Categories: 5-Star Ratings, Article, Comment Letter|

Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) is an online tool that allows users to search and compare dialysis facilities based on star ratings and certain measures. DPC has previously submitted suggestions on how to improve the proposed measures. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in a Planned Changes document that the star ratings included in the DFC would be reassigned based on a 2014 threshold, meaning that the distribution of ratings would look more like it does on CMS’ other websites, and apply standards that are more familiar and intuitive to consumers. DPC submitted another comment letter (published [...]

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