Improve Access to Care Archives - Page 15 of 16

Extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Waiver

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00October 31st, 2013|Categories: Care Coordination, Comment Letter|

Justin Senior State Medicaid Director Agency for Health Care Administration 2727 Mahan Drive, MS #8 Tallahassee, Florida 32308 Re: Extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Waiver (Project Number 11- W-00206/4) Dear Mr. Senior: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to provide the Agency for Health Care Administration with comments on extension of the managed care waiver. As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, DPC’s membership consists of more than 26,000 end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and their families. We seek to ensure the patient point of view is considered by policy makers on a wide range [...]

Promoting Care Coordination for Dialysis Patients
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Promoting Care Coordination for Dialysis Patients

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00October 10th, 2013|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination|

Federal policymakers have long grappled with the problem of better coordinating care for Medicare beneficiaries. As the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has noted, "Gaps exist in care coordination in fee-for-service Medicare because of the fragmentation of service delivery, the lack of tools to help communicate across settings or providers, and the lack of a financial incentive to coordinate care." Part of the problem is that the Original, or fee-for-service, Medicare largely froze in place mainstream medical and insurance practices as they stood in 1965, when the program was created. Many health policy thought-leaders believe that the problem of uncoordinated care has been [...]

California Medicaid Coverage for Nutritional Supplements Restored
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California Medicaid Coverage for Nutritional Supplements Restored

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:57+00:00July 19th, 2013|Categories: Article, Improve Access to Care, State Advocacy|

The recently-signed 2013-2014 California budget included a full restoration of Medi-Cal coverage for nutritional supplements for dialysis patients. This change will take effect May 1, 2014. Dialysis patients require access to quality care including physician visits, prescription medication, dialysis treatments and a proper nutritional regimen in order to maintain their health and avoid hospitalization. DPC is pleased to see this coverage restored for California's 53,000 dialysis patients.

DPC Joins Kidney Community in Requesting Meeting with CMS on ESCOs

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:58+00:00June 26th, 2013|Categories: Care Coordination, Comment Letter, Innovation|

Dear Ms. Tavenner and Dr. Gilfillan: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, thank you for your leadership of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). Together, our organizations represent the patients, physicians, nurses, scientists, and other health professionals dedicated to advancing excellence in the care of patients with kidney disease. Foremost among our shared goals is continuous improvement in the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of care available to patients with kidney disease. Our organizations applaud the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CMS Innovation Center’s establishment of [...]

Congressional Corner: Two Transplant Bills Introduced in Congress
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Congressional Corner: Two Transplant Bills Introduced in Congress

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:59+00:00March 22nd, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Improve Access to Care|Tags: HIV Positive Organ Transplantation|

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Recently, two bills relating to kidney and organ transplants have been introduced in Congress. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi introduced the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (S. 323) in the Senate, and Congressman Michael Burgess and Congressman Ron Kind introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1325) in the House. If passed, these bills will extend Medicare immunosuppressive drug coverage for kidney transplant patients under 65 years old for the life of the graft. Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries who are [...]

Update: Dialysis Care Coordination Moves Forward!

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:59+00:00March 19th, 2013|Categories: Blog, Care Coordination, Innovation|

By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs As I highlighted last fall, DPC has been busy working with other kidney community organizations and the federal government on a new and improved way to provide care to dialysis patients. As part of recent health care reform efforts, Medicare has been developing new ways to coordinate care for various patient groups and they just came out with their dialysis specific program! Medicare, or more specifically the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), released the official blueprint for this new program, which they have called the Comprehensive ESRD Care Initiative. The initiative is [...]

DPC Comments on Medicaid Advantage Drive Times

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:09:00+00:00January 24th, 2013|Categories: Comment Letter, Transportation Services|

January 24, 2013 Jonathan Blum Deputy Administrator and Director for the Center of Medicare Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Room 314G 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 Re: Medicaid Advantage Drive Times for ESRD Patients Dear Mr. Blum: On behalf of more than 24,000 Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) members and over 400,000 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients currently on dialysis, thank you for your leadership at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As the nation’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, DPC’s membership consists of dialysis and pre-dialysis patients and their [...]

Congressional Corner: Over the Cliff – Then Quickly Back Up Again

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:09:00+00:00January 3rd, 2013|Categories: Blog, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Transportation Services|

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Well, we went over the fiscal cliff. And then, just hours later a deal was struck, a few hours late but a deal to bring us back from the brink nonetheless. The 112th Congress concluded its tumultuous, and gridlocked 2 years by passing a deal to avoid massive tax hikes for the middle class and a 27% decrease in payments to Medicare providers on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, cuts to the Medicare ESRD program were still included in the fiscal cliff package. The deal calls on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid [...]

Congressional Corner: A Year of DPC Advocacy Successes!
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Congressional Corner: A Year of DPC Advocacy Successes!

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:09:00+00:00December 12th, 2012|Categories: Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medicaid, State Advocacy, Transportation Services|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange, Nutritional Supplements|

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations As 2012 comes to an end, DPC has a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to. DPC staff and most importantly our members, have achieved so much this year, bringing awareness to kidney disease issues both in Congress and in their communities! Patient Ambassadors held dozens of kidney and dialysis awareness events across the country in support of World Kidney Day and other events throughout the year. Patient Ambassadors taught members of their churches and civic organizations as well as youth in schools about the importance of keeping your [...]

DPC Urges Nevada Commission of Insurance to Not Make Cuts for Patients’ Modality, Transportation, Care and Treatment

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:09:01+00:00September 27th, 2012|Categories: Access to Transplant, Comment Letter, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Improve Access to Care, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection, Treatment Options|

Scott J. Kipper Commissioner of Insurance State of Nevada 1818 E. College Parkway, Suite 103 Carson City, NV 89706 Dear Commissioner Kipper: As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works to improve the quality of life of all dialysis patients through education and advocacy. Today we are writing on behalf of the nearly 3,000 dialysis patients in Nevada to make sure that their health and interests are represented in the State’s essential health benefits plan. DPC is committed to improving patient health and quality of life and to that end, there are several important benefits [...]

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