Kidney failure changes patients’ lives. I see patients battle kidney failure every day as a social worker at a dialysis clinic where they receive life-saving treatment. Unfortunately, physical hardships are only the beginning. As a social worker, I help dialysis patients deal with insurance companies. It is a challenging task: dialysis is costly, and insurance companies do their best to avoid paying. Nevertheless, private insurance gives patients the best opportunity to receive kidney transplants. Allowing kidney patients to keep their private insurance gives them the best shot. However, a recent Supreme Court decision allows private insurance companies to push patients [...]

At 22, while serving in the Army National Guard, I discovered I had a hereditary immune disease called IgA nephropathy affecting my kidneys. When I turned 50, my kidneys finally began to fail. I then entered end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and began dialysis, which removes waste from the blood when the kidneys can't. Dialysis has been a part of my life ever since. My father and grandfather both suffered from ESRD. Losing my father to the disease last November was tragic, especially as I battled the disease myself, but it inspired me to become an advocate for policies protecting kidney [...]

My father’s battle with end-stage renal disease changed our family’s life. I cared for him as he endured dialysis for two years, showing immense courage. He received two transplants, including one of my kidneys, but sadly, he passed away. In his memory, I now advocate for kidney patients and am pursuing a master’s degree in physiology at Georgetown University. Dialysis patients like my father often face financial hardships. As a business owner, he paid up to $1,400 monthly for private insurance to receive better treatment options than state insurance could provide. Previously, end-stage renal disease patients could keep their private [...]

Dear Editor: Kidney failure runs in my family, so I knew that my chances of experiencing kidney failure were high. I received the heartbreaking and scary diagnosis in 2004 and soon after I began dialysis, the sole treatment outside of a kidney transplant. I received a kidney transplant after an exhausting 13 years on dialysis. When I was first diagnosed, I relied on employer-provided private insurance to cover my healthcare expenses. After two years I transitioned to Medicare, and I currently rely on Medicare and private insurance. Although I consistently pay high premiums out-of-pocket, private insurance has allowed me to [...]

Being diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease, ESRD, or kidney failure, changed my life. Suddenly, I needed intravenous treatment three times per week to survive. Like so many ESRD patients, I had to uproot my life to receive treatment. I kept my job during my dialysis journey, working six hours a day and receiving treatment afterwards. I was perpetually exhausted — but I got through it. Adding to the challenges ESRD patients like me face, a recent Supreme Court decision allows private insurers to push high-cost consumers like ESRD patients off of their plans prematurely, even if they are employed. [...]

After I received a kidney transplant, I wrote a letter to the family of my donor expressing my immense gratitude. My journey with end stage renal disease took a toll, and the transplant marked a new beginning. I moved to Kansas City, began working full time and started a family. I received dialysis — a treatment three times per week to replace my kidney function — for almost seven years before receiving a transplant. I am extremely thankful for dialysis, but it was exhausting. I qualified for Medicare and Medicaid for the entirety of my dialysis journey, but others rely [...]