Dialysis Patient Citizens News
Dialysis, Kidney Transplant Patients Need Lawmakers To Help
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) caused my kidneys to fail nearly 30 years ago. Since then, I’ve been on and off dialysis as FSGS and the treatments it requires have taken their toll on my health and several transplant kidneys. The treatment process and the costs associated with it have been egregious. The high cost of medications to keep transplant kidneys healthy makes them financially untenable for many patients, and dialysis comes with a heavy cost, too. That’s without factoring in the medical expenses due to the skin cancer and [...]
Dialysis patients under 65 face major cost hurdle
Starting dialysis felt like being swooped into a cage with no warning. At the height of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, I found out the chemotherapy treatments for my breast cancer had contributed to my kidneys failing and I needed to start on dialysis immediately. The next two weeks were a lonely and frightening experience, and I wouldn’t have survived without my medical team’s quick work and my family’s support. After those initial two weeks in the hospital, I spent three months going through four-hour dialysis treatments [...]
Elevating Dialysis Patient Voices Bolsters State Advocacy Victories
As many 2022 state legislative sessions are winding down or have recently wrapped-up, it is a good time to update DPC members on state legislation important to dialysis patients. The participation of our Patient Ambassadors in DPC’s advocacy efforts has been really beneficial in educating legislators to help them make more-informed decisions on legislation that impacts End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients. Improving access to affordable Medicare Supplemental Insurance (a.k.a., Medigap) plans is a top priority for DPC, and legislation was introduced in multiple states: Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, [...]
DPC’s Letter to Daniel Tsai, Deputy Administrator and Director of CMCS
Daniel Tsai, Deputy Administrator, and Director Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244 Re: Eligibility Redeterminations for Enrollees with Chronic Health Conditions Dear Mr. Tsai: When the Public Health Emergency ends and states resume making Medicaid eligibility redeterminations, up to 15 million enrollees are expected to lose their coverage. We are concerned that as many as one-quarter of those individuals may be receiving treatment for chronic diseases, and that treatment might be interrupted by a lapse in [...]
DPC Urges Continuity of Care for Medicaid Enrollees with Chronic Health Conditions When Eligibility Redeterminations Resume
Two years ago, Congress mandated a pause on Medicaid eligibility redeterminations during the COVID Public Health Emergency. The emergency declaration is expected to end soon, and states will again require Medicaid enrollees prove their eligibility. As many as 15 million enrollees are expected to lose their coverage, mostly because they have accepted higher-paying jobs, but others may slip through the cracks due to address changes and the like. DPC has written to the federal Medicaid director asking that CMS and the states make a special effort to ensure [...]
Guest: National Kidney Month provides reminder of cost hurdles for dialysis patients
The month of March marks National Kidney Month in the U.S., an opportunity to bring awareness to something that affects more than one in seven adults, and a chance to reflect on the struggles kidney patients across the U.S. face every day. Currently, kidney patients face an uneven playing field, and a lot still needs to be accomplished in order to ensure that all patients have access to the care they need. It’s an unlevel field that I’ve been operating on for most of my life. I was [...]
Support S 2194
March 28, 2022 The Honorable Joshua Miller, Chair The Honorable Bridgett G. Valverde, Vice Chair The Honorable Valarie J. Lawson, Secretary Members, Senate Health and Human Services Committee Rhode Island General Assembly RE: Support S 2194 Dear Chair Miller, Vice Chair Valverde, Secretary Lawson, Members of the Committee: As a kidney dialysis patient residing in Woonsocket, a volunteer Patient Ambassador of Dialysis Patient Citizens and on behalf of the more than 1,800(i) fellow Rhode Island residents with End State Renal Disease (ESRD), I write to ask your [...]
DPC’s Letter to Dr. Meena Seshamani, Deputy Administrator and Director for CMS
March 7, 2022 Dr. Meena Seshamani Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244 Re: Dialysis Workforce Issues Dear Dr. Seshamani: We are writing to express our concerns about shortages of labor and supplies that are causing disruptions in dialysis treatments. We urge CMS and its sister operating divisions in HHS to develop plans for health care workforce generally and dialysis workforce in particular; and to make whatever adjustments are necessary to Medicare payment policy necessary to assure patients’ access to care. To [...]
DPC Urges Medicare Officials to Take Action on Dialysis Workforce Shortages
DPC has written to top Medicare officials asking that they develop policy options to address the current labor shortage. The letter notes that the lengthy rulemaking process used to update payments to healthcare providers is ill-suited to react to urgent changes in the labor market. Fourteen years ago, the prestigious Institute of Medicine warned that as Americans aged, there would be fewer workers to take care of more elderly and disabled individuals. DPC’s letter urges officials to take another look at the report, which recommended “wage pass through” [...]
Final ESCO Evaluation Documents Care Coordination Success Story
Medicare’s Comprehensive ESRD Care Model was designed to identify, test, and evaluate new ways to improve care for End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients. It established ESRD Seamless Care Organizations (ESCOs) that brought dialysis clinics and nephrologists together to coordinate patients’ kidney- and non-kidney care. This demonstration project ended last year and was replaced by a similar one this year. The Medicare Innovation Center has released the final evaluation report for the ESCOs. Overall, the ESCOs showed modest but statistically significant results over the five performance years, reducing Medicare [...]
HB 430 – Letter of Support
February 28, 2022 The Honorable Bart Rowland, Chair The Honorable Derek Lewis, Vice Chair House Banking & Insurance Committee Kentucky General Assembly 700 Capitol Avenue Frankfort, KY 40601 RE: HB 430 - SUPPORT Dear Chair Rowland, Vice Chair Lewis and Members of the Committee: My name is James O. “Hap” Strunk. I am a resident of Whitley City, serve as Chairman of the Kentucky Board of Embalmers & Funeral Directors, and also one of the more than 9,000 (i) Kentuckians with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). From [...]
Don’t Forget to Apply for DPC’s 2022 Advocacy Day!
DPC is pleased to invite you to apply for our 2022 Advocacy Day. Please apply by February 25th. Each year, Dialysis Patient Citizens is excited to host a Congressional Advocacy Day for kidney patients and transplant recipients to meet with their federal legislators and talk about issues that affect their quality of care. Historically, our members have come to Washington, D.C., to meet with their Congressional Members in person. However, we are conducting a virtual "fly-in" in 2022 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in order to ensure [...]
2022’s State Advocacy Kick-Off
It’s been a busy start in 2022 for DPC’s state advocacy efforts. While many states are holding shorter legislative sessions due to the upcoming primary elections, bills impacting dialysis patients are being introduced and moving quickly through the legislative process. Legislation to expanded Medigap access has already been introduced in Arizona, Kentucky, Nebraska, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Improving access to Medicare supplementary (Medigap) plans is a top policy priority for DPC, and we are pleased that multiple states are considering how they can help, particularly [...]
Patients with Kidney Disease Need Medigap Expansion Bill
Kidney disease is a life-changing diagnosis. Since I went into renal failure, I’ve believed that patients should only have to worry about the care they need to get well, not the high costs that come with it. Unfortunately, that isn’t the reality I’ve encountered, given my insurance and Medicare don’t cover the full costs of the life-saving treatments and medications I need to fight my kidney disease. Thankfully, Congress is considering a bill that would help kidney disease patients like me. The Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion [...]
New Bill Will Give Dialysis Patients the Security They Deserve
For six and a half years, I lived through the daily struggles of dialysis and the challenges of getting quality care before I finally received a kidney transplant in 2009. The coverage I received while on dialysis simply wasn’t enough to pay for all of the medications I needed because I was under the age of 65 and did not have access to Medigap insurance. A new bill, the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act, would help prevent this from happening to other patients by expanding Medigap [...]
Medicare Kicks Off New Kidney Care Demonstration Project
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has announced 85 sites for its Kidney Care Choices (KCC) Demonstration Project, which started January 1, 2022. The program, initially announced by President Donald Trump in July 2019, is intended to “help health care providers reduce the cost and improve the quality of care for patients with late-stage chronic kidney disease and ESRD… and to delay the need for dialysis and encourage kidney transplantation.” KCC consists of two separate programs. In Kidney Care First (KCF), participating nephrology practices receive payments on [...]
DPC Responds to Medicare Officials’ Request for Information on Transplants and Home Modalities
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are preparing new initiatives to promote transplant and home dialysis, and asked the public for recommendations. The request came as part of the President’s Executive Orders “to advance health equity and improve health outcomes for people in need of a life-saving transplant and dialysis,” according to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. DPC responded to several elements of the request. Equity in Organ Transplantation – DPC reiterated its position, shared by many experts, that Medicare should supplement payments on behalf [...]
DPC Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Case
DPC filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Marietta Memorial Hospital v. DaVita. The case involves a dialysis patient whose employer-sponsored health insurance plan tied reimbursements for dialysis to Medicare prices. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that this constituted illegal discrimination. The employer appealed the decision, which is now scheduled for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 1. DPC’s brief argues that such discrimination circumvents dialysis patients’ right to keep their employer coverage for up [...]
Reminder – Free COVID-19 Tests Available
In case you weren’t already aware, the federal government is issuing four free at-home Covid-19 tests to every household in the U.S. These are rapid antigen Covid-19 home tests that you self-administer using a nasal swab and get results in less than 30 minutes. Orders will be shipped directly to your home via US Postal Service (USPS), usually within seven to twelve days, beginning the week of January 24th. To order online, visit: https://www.covidtests.gov/. Click on “Order Free At-home Tests” button and it will redirect you to the [...]
New Bill Give Dialysis Patients Certainty and Security
The last thing that folks living with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) should have to worry about is whether they can afford to pay for their treatments. As someone who has been on dialysis since 2009, I’ve met a number of patients who live with a financial burden and uncertainty because they do not have access to Medigap insurance. Thankfully, Congress is working to expand Medigap coverage through a new bill called the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act. This bill would allow patients under the age of [...]