Advance Patient Choice Archives - Page 10 of 13

Bipartisan Living Donor Protection Act Introduced to Protect Organ Donors

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Article, Transplant Donor Protection|

On February 25, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Congressman Michael Burgess M.D. (R-TX), joined by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), introduced the Living Donor Protection Act of 2016 to protect the rights of living organ donors. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not specify that living organ donors can take unpaid leave to recover from their donation and does not guarantee that donors will have a job waiting for them after surgery. Further, according to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Transplantation, as many as 11 percent of living organ donors experience [...]

DPC Encourages Participation in National Kidney Month Awareness

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, Get Involved, Take Action, Transplant Donor Protection, Uncategorized|

March is National Kidney Month, which provides you with the perfect opportunity to spread awareness by educating your community and your legislators about kidney disease and the importance of kidney health. You can find educational information on the website of our sister organization, the DPC Education Center to share with your family and community. Additionally, we can provide promotional materials for any awareness events you plan to hold in March. To request materials such as pens and squeezable kidneys, visit our materials request page or call us at 1-866-877-4242. On the legislative front, you can ask your member of Congress to [...]

Legislation Aims to Improve Access to Telemedicine

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00February 11th, 2016|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Improve Access to Care|

Telemedicine is the practice of using technology to deliver various medical services to patients. Examples include video visits with physicians, scheduling appointments online and using electronic devices to monitor vital signs. Medicare coverage for this type of health care remains restricted due to guidelines from the Social Security Act. A new piece of legislation, introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators, would waive these coverage restrictions. The new bill, called the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, would create a “bridge program” for health providers who use certain payment models. Under the program, providers [...]

Is This the Future of ESRD Care? A New Program Goes the Extra Mile for Dialysis Patients

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00February 1st, 2016|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination|

By, Jackson Williams, Government Affairs Director for Dialysis Patient Citizens For more than a decade, officials in Washington, DC have been experimenting with ways to reorganize Medicare to deliver better care at lower costs. Several of these “demonstration projects” have involved ESRD patients. Now, the largest such program for dialysis patients has kicked off at 13 locations across the U.S. It’s called the ESRD Seamless Care Organization, or “ESCO,” model. This article describes what one of these projects, Philadelphia-Camden Integrated Kidney Care, is doing to improve care for its patients. Philadelphia-Camden Integrated Kidney Care covers about 2,000 patients at DaVita clinics in the [...]

2015 Year in Review

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00January 19th, 2016|Categories: 5-Star Ratings, Access to Transplant, Article, Care Coordination, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, Innovation, Medicare Advantage|Tags: Annual Accomplishments|

Happy New Year! In 2015, DPC leadership and its strong patient advocacy efforts at the state level fought to: prevent dramatic cuts to dialysis funding in Alabama and Illinois and preserve charity payments for dialysis patient premiums. Other highlights include: The opportunity for DPC CEO Hrant Jamgochian and board member Bob Lee to testify in front of the Oregon insurance commissioner on the discriminatory language found in two private insurance plans that would limit coverage for ESRD patients. The commissioner ruled against the language. DPC board member Danny Iniguez discussed health disparities in kidney disease at the National Black Caucus [...]

DPC Urges CMS to Prioritize Patient Access

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:30+00:00January 19th, 2016|Categories: Access to Transplant, Care Coordination, Charitable Premium Assistance, Medicare Advantage, Medigap Coverage, Transportation Services|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

Last month, DPC sent a letter commenting on the “Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017” proposed rule. This annual rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contains proposed changes to the exchange plan coverage of the Affordable Care Act. DPC’s letter focuses on the importance of insurance coverage and network quality for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. One issue the letter comments on pertains to network adequacy. Network adequacy describes an insurance plan’s ability to provide a sufficient amount of in-network providers to subscribers in the plan. Suggestions to improve network adequacy include requiring all [...]

RE: CMS–9937–P: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00December 21st, 2015|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Improve Access to Care|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

Andrew Slavitt Acting AdministratorCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services 7500 Security BoulevardBaltimore, MD 21244RE: CMS–9937–P: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt,On behalf of the more than 430,000 patients who rely upon dialysis services, we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017” Proposed Rule (Proposed Rule). We strongly encourage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to protect the rights of all Americans to access coverage in the Marketplaces, consistent with the Affordable Care [...]

Medicaid-Eligible Dialysis Patients Not Fully Informed of Treatment Options, Survey Finds

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:31+00:00December 11th, 2015|Categories: Article, Medicaid, Treatment Options|

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who receive Medicaid are less likely to be informed of home modality and transplantation options than patients covered by Medicare or commercial insurance, according to survey research DPC released earlier this month. DPC recently partnered with Baxter to facilitate a panel discussing these disparities at the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) Conference in Los Angeles, California. The DPC survey found that while about 74 percent of ESRD patients overall are informed about the option of home hemodialysis, there is an information gap of 17 percentage points between patients covered by Medicare (77%) and Medicaid [...]

RE: CMS-1631-P: Physician Fee Schedule

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:32+00:00August 25th, 2015|Categories: Comment Letter, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage|

August 25, 2015 Andrew Slavitt, Acting Administrator Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Hubert H. Humphrey Building 200 Independence Avenue SW Washington, D.C. 20201 Dear Mr. Slavitt, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to provide the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with comments on the proposed payment rule for the Medicare End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program. As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, DPC’s membership consists of more than 28,000 dialysis and pre-dialysis patients and their families. We seek to ensure the patient point of view is considered by [...]

JAMA Study Examines Obstacles Preventing Kidney Transplants

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:50:32+00:00August 14th, 2015|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article|

It is well known that the best treatment for end-stage renal disease patients is a kidney transplant. While there are many health factors that affect a patients’ ability to receive a transplant, a recent study found that only 28 percent of adult patients beginning dialysis were even referred for kidney transplant evaluations. The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, examined 15,000 patients within Georgia’s three transplant centers. Referral rates varied from 0% to 75% in some dialysis facilities. Researchers found that facilities with the lowest referral rate were “likely to be nonprofit, hospital-based, have more patients, treat patients [...]

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