Kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), affects Americans of all ages. I was 14 years old when I received my diagnosis. I’ve been on dialysis for many years and have received two transplants in the process, but perhaps more stressful than dialysis has been paying for all my healthcare expenses. I’ve relied on private insurance for much of my ESRD journey. After my second transplant, I had private insurance that proved essential once my transplant failed and I needed to stay in the hospital. I eventually transitioned to Medicare, but did not qualify for Medicaid, and Medicare only pays [...]

At 20 years old, I was diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure. Two years later, I began receiving dialysis. I was employed upon diagnosis, but lost my job before beginning dialysis. I 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 went deep into medical debt just to survive. Six years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and 15 years later, I can now say that I am out of debt. I became a nurse, received an MBA, worked hard, and [...]

To Whom It May Concern, Like many patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) – or kidney failure – my diagnosis came as a shock. About a decade ago, I went to my doctor feeling ill. I discovered that my kidneys were failing and I had to get on dialysis, the costly but life-saving treatment which replaces my kidney function. I have been on dialysis ever since. My healthcare journey has been difficult, and many ESRD patients like me deal with financial challenges as a result of the diagnosis, too. I did not have health insurance upon beginning dialysis, so [...]

In the United States, dialysis treatment should be affordable. Unfortunately, inadequate coverage for dialysis often plunges patients into debt. Dialysis should not bankrupt you. In our system, Americans on dialysis almost always wind up using Medicare. Since Medicare only covers 80% of the bill, patients must figure out how to cover the remainder. I was on dialysis for 10 years, and I received a kidney transplant in 2018. I was forced to stop working when I began dialysis, but my mother’s private insurance covered my bill. Private insurance helped me immensely; however, a recent Supreme Court decision may give private [...]

We Americans with kidney failure must accept the fact that we will be in medical debt for the rest of our lives. To pay for dialysis treatment, some patients keep working and use private insurance. Others live in states that supplement the other 20%. For me, although I have my husband’s private insurance, we still owe thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. I was a single mom when I started dialysis ten years ago, and money has always been tight. I have not been able to pay much more than the minimum payments on my medical debt. For patients just beginning dialysis, [...]

Kidney failure changed the course of my life. I began dialysis, the exhausting treatment kidney failure patients need to survive, three months pregnant with my son. I received a kidney transplant, which ultimately failed, and I have been on dialysis for a total of nine-and-a-half years. It’s been an arduous journey. Dialysis costs upwards of $100,000 per year, so most patients rely on some combination of Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and charity. I began dialysis as a young adult, so I needed Medicaid immediately, but many others begin with employer-provided private insurance. As I’ve learned over the course of my [...]