Dear editor, My father, Bill Robinson, passed away 10 years ago from complications related to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Yet, he lived a relatively full, healthy and active life. Dialysis allowed him to continue living and working for 10 years. As his primary caretaker, I saw firsthand the problems afflicting kidney patients. I witnessed many patients struggling to pay for life-saving treatment, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Luckily, my father had private health insurance to cover the costs of his treatment. However, a recent Supreme Court decision may affect the lives of dialysis patients [...]

When you start dialysis, which I was on for three years, there is a lot of uncertainty and fear. However, worrying about immediately changing health insurance plans after diagnosis hasn’t typically been a problem for most patients, because private insurance companies had to cover treatments for 30 months before the patient automatically joins Medicare. However, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling last year that could potentially weaken long-standing protections that are essential for dialysis patients. This is highly concerning, because the last thing that new dialysis patients need is their coverage slipping away while beginning to live with dialysis. [...]

Kidney failure is not a death sentence. With the right healthcare, Americans on dialysis can live energetic, productive lives. Unfortunately, paying for dialysis in America has become a Herculean task. Medicare only covers 80%, and the remaining 20% can cost thousands per year. Private insurance usually covers the first 30 months of dialysis before patients’ transition, by law, to Medicare. However, a Supreme Court decision last year could allow private insurance companies to deny certain treatments to dialysis patients and deplete their coverage during that period. I urge Congress to pass legislation amending the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and securing [...]

Last year I wrote to you about the shocking moment when my young daughter was diagnosed with kidney failure. Thankfully, I was able to be her part-time caregiver with the help of our primary physician through her dialysis treatment and the many health challenges she faced. The last thing dialysis patients should worry about is money. That’s why I’m writing to you again to share my concern about a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows insurance companies to weaken health coverage for dialysis patients and push them to Medicare before the traditional 30-month transition window. Being forced onto Medicare [...]

When your kidneys fail, dialysis is your hope for a better future. But affording dialysis can be a tricky ordeal because Medicare, which all dialysis patients are required to have as their primary provider after 30 months, only covers 80% of the treatment costs. For me, paying the other 20% was hard because, as someone under the age of 65, I had to pay high premiums for my supplemental plan. Unfortunately, paying for the coverage that saves patients' lives is about to become even more difficult. The Supreme Court decided that private insurance companies no longer have to provide full [...]

Kidney failure changed my life. I’ve learned a thing or two after spending 18 years on dialysis, receiving a kidney transplant, and spending years as an advocate for my fellow patients. In the initial 30 months of dialysis, dialysis patients have traditionally had the option to keep their private insurance in order to plan for their inevitable transition to Medicare. Planning proves especially important for patients who may no longer receive employer-provided insurance, since dialysis often prevents people from working. However, a recent Supreme Court decision may allow private insurers to diminish coverage for dialysis patients in that 30-month window, [...]

Since coming to Congress last year, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has worked across party lines to help our community. I hope she’ll do so again by working to ensure that Washington’s kidney disease patients, of which I am one, can have access to proper insurance. After a Supreme Court ruling, private insurance companies may be able to weaken what they cover for dialysis patients. Previously, if someone had private insurance when they got diagnosed with kidney failure and started dialysis, they could keep their full coverage for up to 30 months before they, by law, must switch to Medicare. That [...]

Those with a sudden and serious illness that requires immediate medical attention are called “crash” patients. My husband Raymond was a crash patient when he was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease, or kidney failure. Luckily, Raymond had private insurance, so he didn’t have to worry much about the cost of his life-saving dialysis treatments when he started. Eventually, dialysis patients transition to Medicare as their primary coverage within 30 months after beginning treatment. Yet now, a Supreme Court ruling from last year leaves room for private insurers to weaken dialysis coverage in that initial 30-month period. This could push [...]