I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, at only 20 years old. Two years later, I began receiving dialysis to stay alive. I lost my job right before beginning dialysis and ultimately began dialysis on Medicare. Since Medicare only covers 80%, and my disability income disqualified me from Medicaid, I could not cover the remaining 20%. I had to go into medical debt just to survive. Six years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and 17 years later, I can now say that I am out of debt. I became a nurse, received an MBA, worked hard and [...]

At just 25 years old, I was diagnosed with renal failure caused by systemic lupus and immediately began dialysis. I was pregnant, undergoing chemotherapy and fighting for my life. The last thing I should have had to worry about was losing my health insurance. But I was terrified. My private insurance through Blue Cross BlueShield was the only thing standing between my family and financial ruin. My husband and I even discussed divorcing on paper just to protect him from bankruptcy. No one facing a life-threatening diagnosis should ever have to consider something like that. After 14 months of dialysis, [...]

After 18 years on dialysis and nearly four years post-transplant, I have seen firsthand what happens when dialysis patients don’t have the insurance protections they need. As a longtime patient advocate, I’ve watched others struggle through a system that too often pulls the rug out from under people at their most vulnerable. Historically, there’s been legal protections allowing dialysis patients to stay on their private insurance for 30 months before switching to Medicare. That protection was a lifeline. It gave patients a real window to stabilize, navigate their treatment, and potentially receive a transplant before being forced onto Medicare. Without [...]