Dialysis patients often open the mail to find thousands of dollars worth of medical bills they can’t afford. Without the proper insurance, affording dialysis treatment is all but impossible. I began dialysis back in college, so at the time, I took advantage of my mother’s private insurance to cover costs. However, I was kicked off of my mother’s insurance at 26 years old without yet qualifying for Medicare. Suddenly losing private insurance caused significant stress and anxiety in my life, and I know patients who want to quit dialysis because of financial stress. Therefore, I am particularly concerned with a [...]

Protect dialysis access To the Editor: All dialysis patients are required to have Medicare as their primary insurer after 30 months from when they start dialysis, but the law has always allowed us to keep our private insurance until then if we wanted. Now, a Supreme Court decision from 2022 may allow private insurers to reduce coverage of many life-saving dialysis services. Keeping coverage after starting dialysis provides stability during a very difficult time. After this ruling, dialysis patients may have to worry about the hassle of switching to Medicare at the same time they worry about starting dialysis. The [...]