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Comments to CMS re: Request for Information on Insurance Steering

2024-03-29T01:50:28+00:00September 20th, 2016|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Innovation|

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 Re: CMS-6074-NC: “Request for Information: Inappropriate Steering of Individuals Eligible for or Receiving Medicare and Medicaid Benefits” Dear Mr. Slavitt: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) responds herein to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with comments on the above referenced Request for Information. 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 [...]

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DPC Responds to CMS’ Request for Information

2024-03-29T01:50:28+00:00August 19th, 2016|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Charitable Premium Assistance|Tags: |

If anyone doesn’t know why the public is fed-up with our government, all they need to do is look at yesterday’s RFI on third party payment, which can best be summarized as “politics as usual” and big insurance dictating its own agenda.  The former CMS Administrator – who is now the nation’s leading lobbyist for the insurance industry – appears to be getting the Agency to prioritize her new employer’s desires over the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable patients. To put even more pressure on the Obama Administration, Aetna just threatened to pull out of even more health insurance exchanges if it doesn’t get [...]

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Did Payment Reform Affect Patient Modality Choice?

2024-03-29T01:50:28+00:00August 11th, 2016|Categories: Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care, Medicare Advantage, Treatment Options|

One of the main policy goals of Dialysis Patient Citizens is to Improve Access to Care. This tenet includes improving patient access to all dialysis modalities: home hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, in-center hemodialysis and transplantation. Through our annual membership survey, we’ve uncovered various barriers for patients who would like to receive home hemodialysis. Many patients are unable to receive treatments in their home because of a lack of a caregiver, which is a requirement to receive treatment. However, DPC has also uncovered that the type of insurance a patient has may affect the likelihood of whether they are informed of home dialysis [...]

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ESRD Choice Act Moves out of Committee with Unanimous Support

2024-03-29T01:50:28+00:00August 11th, 2016|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Care Coordination, Medicare Advantage|

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) hailed the introduction of H.R. 5659 as the latest in a series of milestones toward opening Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. With bi-partisan introduction by Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO), John Lewis (D-GA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Tom Marino (R-PA), this legislation is a momentous step forward to providing dialysis patients increased access to insurance. “As a dialysis patient of 5 years, I am fortunate to have secondary insurance to cover what Medicare does not, however I know many patients in my facility don’t have that luxury. Providing dialysis patients access [...]

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DPC Complaint to OFM re: Washington State Insurance Plans

2024-03-29T01:50:28+00:00July 19th, 2016|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Innovation, Private Insurance Coverage, State Advocacy|

Re: Violations of the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b), by Washington State Health Insurance Plans Dear Ms. Parker and Ms. Dotzel: We write to bring to your attention the fact that at least three group insurers in the state of Washington are offering large plans with provisions that violate the explicit terms of the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute. These violations not only potentially subject the insurers to statutory civil monetary penalties, but render these insurers’ plans nonconforming under applicable regulations. As America's largest patient-led organization representing 29,000 dialysis patients and family members, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) strives to [...]

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DPC Complaint to Department of Labor re: Insurance Plan Discrimination

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 28th, 2016|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Comment Letter, Innovation, Private Insurance Coverage|

The Honorable Phyllis C. Borzi Assistant Secretary Employee Benefits Security Administration United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20210 Re: Violations of Part 7 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act Relating to Health Plans’ Treatment of End-Stage Renal Disease Dear Assistant Secretary Borzi: On behalf of the 29,000 dialysis patients and family members that we serve, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) asks that the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigate activities some group health plans have undertaken that we believe discriminate against individuals with kidney failure in violation of Part 7 of the Employee Retirement Income Security [...]

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DPC Participates in Home Dialysis Briefing Emphasizing Current Barriers to Treatment

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 6th, 2016|Categories: Improve Access to Care, Medicaid, Treatment Options|

Hrant Jamgochian, CEO of Dialysis Patient Citizens, participated in a congressional briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Home Dialysis on May 16th. DPC joined hip-hop artist David Rush, former U.S. Representative Karen Thurman, Larry Weisberg and Dr. Sue Quaggin to provide policymakers with policy options to improve access to home dialysis. DPC’s most recent membership survey indicated significant insurance barriers to access for home dialysis. However, the largest barrier for most patients was the lack of a care partner. The DPC survey found that while 74% of ESRD patients overall were informed about the option of home hemodialysis, there was an information gap [...]

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DPC Files Legal Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights over Discrimination by Blue Cross Idaho

2024-03-29T01:50:29+00:00June 6th, 2016|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance, Legal Defense, State Advocacy|

On behalf of kidney patients nationally, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) filed a legal complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights citing discriminatory behavior by Blue Cross Idaho (BCI) against individuals with kidney failure, a disease which disproportionately impacts minorities. The complaint involves a new BCI policy guideline, targeting policyholders with kidney failure who need three times weekly dialysis to live. Under the policy, BCI screens policyholders with kidney failure to determine how their premiums are paid and dumps individuals who receive financial assistance from the non-profit, federally approved charity, American Kidney Fund (AKF). The non-profit DPC, the nation’s [...]

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