Hannah Bracamonte, Author at Dialysis Patient Citizens

DPC Submits Feedback to CMS on Proposed Additions to Dialysis Facility Compare Tool
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DPC Submits Feedback to CMS on Proposed Additions to Dialysis Facility Compare Tool

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00December 11th, 2015|Categories: 5-Star Ratings, Article, Comment Letter|

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced plans to add more measures to their Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC). The DFC is an online tool that allows users to search and compare dialysis facilities within a certain area based on ratings and certain measures. The added measures would examine fluid management, the rate of blood stream infections in in-center hemodialysis patients and pediatric peritoneal dialysis adequacy. Data collected through the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems In-Center Hemodialysis (CAHPS ICH) surveys would also be added to the DFC. DPC submitted comments to CMS supporting the addition of these measures [...]

CMS Updates Policies and Payment Rates for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities for 2016

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Quality Incentive Program|

On October 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule to update payment policies and rates under the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services furnished after January 1, 2016. The agency said the “ESRD final rule is one of several rules for calendar year 2016 that reflect a broader Administration-wide strategy to provide quality care at lower cost by improving ways to deliver care, pay providers, and use information.” This final rule also includes changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) for payment years 2017-2019. Under the ESRD [...]

CMS to Expand Prior Authorization of Transportation Services to Six More States

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: State Advocacy, Transportation Services|

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin expanding a prior authorization model for non-emergency ambulance transportation for dialysis patients into six states: Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The program expansion will begin on January 1, 2016 and requires ambulance providers in those states to obtain documentation from physicians prior to beginning service. CMS plans to reach out to ambulance providers and Medicare beneficiaries about the program through educational materials. This model was originally implemented in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. It came in response to fraud cases found in those states, [...]

Bipartisan Budget Deal Includes Lower Premium Hikes for Medicare Part B

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Promote Financial Security|

Earlier this week, the President signed a two-year bipartisan budget deal that changes the premium and deductible amounts for Medicare Part B plans. ESRD patients whose Medicare premiums are not deducted from their Social Security checks were initially facing a premium increase of 50 percent to $159 a month, but now will pay around $120 a month. The lower rate was established through a loan from the Treasury Department to the Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund. The difference will be made up through monthly $3 repayment fees added onto beneficiaries’ premiums. The new rate also applies to patients who are under [...]

DPC and Patient Advocates Win Oregon Ruling on Discriminatory Insurance Practices

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Legal Defense, Promote Financial Security, State Advocacy|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

DPC and kidney advocates won a ruling from the Oregon insurance commissioner against discriminatory language in an insurance policy limiting coverage for ESRD patients. Bob Lee, a DPC Patient Ambassador and ESRD patient, and Hrant Jamgochian, Executive Director of DPC, attended a public hearing on the topic in Salem and presented testimony on behalf of DPC’s membership. The insurance commissioner ruled: Insurers are prohibited from discriminating based on health factors. Insurers may not require enrollment in Medicare, regardless of member entitlement or eligibility. Insurers providing information to members regarding Medicare benefits must ensure the information provided is factual. Insurer communication [...]

Open Enrollment Begins For 2016 Insurance Coverage

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Uncategorized|

This week begins the open enrollment period for 2016 coverage. The health insurance marketplace lists coverage options for patients who do not have an insurance plan through an employer, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or a private plan. Enrollment can be done by phone, online, through a paper application and in person. Open enrollment will run through January 31, 2016.

DPC Urges Department of Insurance to Protect Dialysis Patient Access in Oregon
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DPC Urges Department of Insurance to Protect Dialysis Patient Access in Oregon

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00October 26th, 2015|Categories: Comment Letter, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security, State Advocacy|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

Ms. Laura Cali, Insurance Commissioner Department of Consumer & Business Services Insurance Division PO Box 14480 Salem, Oregon 97309-0405 Re: Discrimination against end-stage renal disease patients by Regence health plan Dear Commissioner Cali: With 28,000 dialysis patient members, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) is the nation’s largest patient-led organization representing individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). I am writing on behalf of Oregon’s 3,821 dialysis patients, asking that you ensure that they are treated equitably by the Regence health insurance plan. Regulatory filings by this issuer indicate that its 2016 plan designs are incentivizing disenrollment of ESRD patients in favor of enrolling [...]

DPC Calls on Regulators to Investigate Insurer’s Renal Care Coverage Limitations

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00October 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Promote Financial Security, State Advocacy|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

Kidney advocates are reacting to an alarming trend in the commercial insurance industry: insurers are increasingly writing language into policy documents that attempt to exclude or limit coverage of renal care. DPC is alerting regulators at both the state and federal levels to the harm these limitations could have on patients and asking them to enforce the numerous laws that prohibit health plans from discriminating against people with ESRD. Federal law guarantees that ESRD patients may keep their private insurance coverage for up to 30 months before enrolling in Medicare. The law also requires that health plans cannot differentiate between [...]

DPC, Kidney Patient, Testify at Hearing on Surprise Medical Bills

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00October 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Legal Defense, Promote Financial Security, State Advocacy|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

DPC Policy Director Jackson Williams and Pittsburgh kidney patient Janice Nathan were among witnesses at a hearing held by Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner on “surprise medical bills.” These are bills received from physicians who are outside of an insurer’s provider network even though they work inside facilities that are in-network. Janice Nathan’s primary care doctor recommended that she receive a cardiac stress test. Ms. Nathan checked her insurer’s provider directory and found an in-network facility to get the test. But when she received a cardiologist’s bill for $325—much more than the $50 co-pay she expected—she learned that the cardiologist who read [...]

New ACO Model Focuses on ESRD Patient Care

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00October 9th, 2015|Categories: Article, Care Coordination|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the participants for the Comprehensive ESRD Care (CEC) Model, a new accountable care organization (ACO) model designed specifically for ESRD patients. ACOs are groups of physicians and other health care providers who collectively take on responsibility for the quality and cost of care for a population of patients. In the CEC Model, dialysis facilities, nephrologists and other providers have formed ESRD Seamless Care Organizations (ESCOs) to coordinate care for ESRD beneficiaries. ESCOs will be financially accountable for quality outcomes and Medicare Part A and B spending, including all spending for dialysis [...]

About Hannah Bracamonte

Dialysis Patient Citizens

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