Dialysis Patient Citizens News
Spending Bill Ensures Dialysis Patients Can Access Life-Saving Care
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Advocates for dialysis patients are pleased that the federal spending bill which funds the government through March 23rd includes several provisions that will help people with kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), gain access to life-extending dialysis treatments. The bill includes language from the Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3178), which was introduced July 7 of last year by Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means [...]
Dialysis PATIENTS Act Update
It’s a New Year but our work to expand integrated care is far from complete! The Dialysis PATIENTS Act has soared to 142 co-sponsors, which is more than double the number of co-sponsors for the previous version of this legislation in 2016. This overwhelming support, coupled with recent data on the success of the ESRD Seamless Care Organizations signals the readiness to expand integrated care programs for dialysis patients nationwide. If you haven’t sent messages to your Members of Congress, there is still time! Please take a moment [...]
Record Number of Applicants for our 2018 Advocacy Day
Before the holidays, we opened our application for our 2018 Advocacy Day. It is apparent that advocacy is part of many ESRD patients’ New Year’s resolutions because we received almost 150 applications to attend our advocacy day! This is a record number of interested members willing to have their voice heard by legislators on behalf of ESRD patients across the nation. If you missed the deadline, but advocacy is still a part of your New Year’s resolutions there are still ways to get involved! Visit our kidney action [...]
CMS Releases Proposed Payment Rule for 2018
On June 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its proposed Annual Payment Rule for the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program to govern dialysis services furnished beginning January 1, 2018. The proposed rule also makes minor changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). This year’s rule includes an increase to the base rate, replacing QIP measures as well as including social risk factors in the QIP scores. CMS says the ESRD proposed rule is “one of several rules for 2018 that reflect a [...]
New Pieces of Legislation Passed Mark Up to Improve Dialysis Care
View from the gallery as the committee approves the legislation. Two pieces of legislation have been passed by unanimous consent by the Ways and Means Committee with provisions that improve dialysis care. The Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3178) and H.R. 3168—contain 3 provisions which will improve dialysis care. H.R. 3178 expands access to home dialysis by allowing the use of telemedicine for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) related visits as well as allows new dialysis facilities to received outside accreditation in order [...]
DPC Advocacy Day 2017 Recap
Each year, Dialysis Patient Citizens is proud to bring dialysis patients to Washington, D.C. in order to meet with their legislators about the issues affecting patients nationwide. This year, we are pleased to have hosted 25 dialysis patients and their family members from across the country. Patients arrived to Washington, D.C. and were greeted by an informal networking dinner to meet new advocates and re-connect with veteran advocates. The following day, those needing dialysis received treatment in four different local facilities then returned for an afternoon of [...]
Dialysis Patient Advocates Urge Congress to Improve Kidney Disease Research and Care
Advocates for dialysis patients announced their strong support of bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress last week that would augment research on kidney disease, improve coordination among kidney care providers and expand coverage options for patients with kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (H.R. 2644) would improve the care of the more than 675,000 ESRD patients nationwide who require transplantation or frequent dialysis treatments to survive. Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), a leading advocacy group for people [...]
DPC Submits Comments on Market Stabilization
A recent proposed rule released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance for market stabilization of the Affordable Care Act. Within this proposed rule, network adequacy provisions for dialysis clinics provided a narrow scope for insurers. In comments submitted by DPC on March 6, we argued stronger time and distance criteria need to be added to these provisions. Research shows there is little difference between living in a metropolitan area compared to living in a rural environment, but there are significant mortality risks associated [...]
Advocating for Patients on World Kidney Day
Today the global community of people fighting kidney disease commemorates World Kidney Day, an effort to raise awareness of the importance of healthy kidneys and reduce the devastating impact of kidney disease, which affects 1 out of every 10 people worldwide. Although the condition is incurable, effective treatments are available. An estimated 2.6 million people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure, received dialysis in 2010. That number is expected to more than double to 5.4 million by 2030. As the incidence of kidney disease rises, so [...]
Dialysis Patient Citizens Wins Court Ruling Against Insurer Veto on ESRD Patients
In a lawsuit filed by DPC against the Department of Health and Human Services, a federal court has blocked a regulation that would have given insurers veto power over ESRD patients’ access to private coverage. The judge called the regulation, that could have forced dialysis patients off their current health insurance and jeopardized their access to care, “arbitrary and capricious.” In enjoining the regulation’s enforcement, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas held that the rule was 1) procedurally defective because HHS adopted it [...]
Dialysis Patient Advocates Applaud Ruling in Case Against CMS
Federal court blocks CMS regulation that would give insurers veto power over access to private coverage; judge calls it ‘arbitrary and capricious’ Washington, D.C. – Advocates for dialysis patients are celebrating a federal court ruling today to grant a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from implementing a regulation that could force patients off their current health insurance and jeopardize their access to care. In enjoining the regulation’s enforcement, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas held that [...]
Re: CMS-3337-IFC: Medicare Program; Conditions for Coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities—Third Party Payment
Re: CMS-3337-IFC: Medicare Program; Conditions for Coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities--Third Party Payment To whom it may concern: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) writes to offer its comments on the above referenced interim final rule. We are requesting that the Agency withdraw the rule and follow the notice-and-comment rulemaking process prescribed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). We explain below why this unusual regulatory action reached an incorrect result. DPC's membership is restricted to kidney disease patients and their family members. We have more than 28,000 total [...]
Dialysis Patient Advocates Seek Restraining Order Against CMS
Lawsuit charges that CMS rule to take effect Jan. 13 gives insurers illegal veto power over access to private coverage Washington, D.C. – Advocates for dialysis patients filed suit in federal court today to prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing a rule that could force patients off their current health plans and jeopardize their access to care. The regulation, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Dec. 13 outside the formal rulemaking process, gives insurers the power to [...]
Protecting Dialysis Patients’ Health Coverage
By Hrant Jamgochian, CEO Dialysis Patient Citizens Across the country, thousands of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) face the agonizing choice of paying for necessities such as rent and food, or paying the insurance premiums that enable them to get dialysis and other critical care. Fortunately, ESRD patients have options. Thanks to federal law, they can enroll in Medicare at any age. Or, if they would rather keep a private insurance plan, they can apply for financial help from charities such as the American Kidney Fund. These [...]
Dialysis Patients Outraged by CMS Move Giving Insurers Illegal Veto Power Over Access to Private Coverage
Dialysis Patient Citizens says CMS rule tacitly allows insurers to discriminate based on patients’ health condition Washington, D.C. – Advocates for dialysis patients are outraged by an interim final rule issued late yesterday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that could force patients off their current health plans and jeopardize their access to care. The rule, which CMS wrote with the stated purpose of ensuring that dialysis patients receive accurate information about their health coverage options, instead empowers insurers to prevent those patients from [...]