2010 DPC Year in Review

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2010 was a monumental year for health care in the United States. Along with the passage of sweeping health care reform legislation, many important policy decisions were made at the federal and state levels that now have the potential to significantly impact dialysis patients’ care.

Throughout these developments, DPC and our members worked together to engage at the forefront of key discussions and to ensure that the patient perspective was heard.

Policy Events/Leadership

• World Kidney Day and Washington DPC: Advocacy fly-in events involving 40 DPC members who participated in over 75 meetings with Members of Congress and staff on issues impacting dialysis care
• California and Texas ESRD Summits: Day-long summits gathering roughly 120 state policy experts, nephrologists, caregivers and advocates to discuss dialysis home care options for patients and how new dialysis payment policies could impact patients’ care
• Dialysis Days in Arizona and South Carolina: Advocacy days allowing nearly 60 dialysis patients to meet directly with their lawmakers and explain how expanded access to Medigap coverage helps many dialysis patients better afford their medical care

New Advocacy/Education Programs

• Launched DPC Partners in Care – a new program uniting dedicated kidney care professionals (including doctors, practitioners, nurses, social workers, dieticians, dialysis facility administrators (and other dialysis professionals) who share DPC’s mission of promoting quality kidney care for all patients
• Developed a patient guide to the Medicare End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) dialysis payment bundle and held an educational conference call with nearly 100 participants
• Developed a new anemia education resource for patients in coordination with the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), American Kidney Fund (AKF), National Kidney Foundation (NKF), Renal Physicians Association (RPA) and Renal Support Network (RSN)
• Launched a new course on the DPC Classroom entitled “Take an Active Role in your role in your Treatment,” designed to empower patients get more involved in their care and explain the benefits of being an active participants in their health care

Advocacy Successes

• Provided comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) about the impact their proposed rule on the new bundled payment system would have on patients – with the result that most of these comments were implemented in the final rule
• Secured Medigap coverage victories for patients under 65 in Georgia and Tennessee
• Sent over 1,000 letters/emails to lawmakers on issues important to patients, including: access to Medigap coverage, extending immunosuppressive coverage, and delaying the inclusion of oral medications in the new Medicare bundled payment system
• Held over 100 meetings on Capitol Hill and over a dozen meetings between DPC members and members of Congress in local dialysis facilities or in the Members’ district offices
• Launched 12 Ambassadors Coordinating Together Teams in the following states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, New York, North Carolina, Northern California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Southern California and Virginia

Regulatory Activity

Delivered comments to:

• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding HHS’ Workgroup on Multiple Chronic Conditions draft strategic framework
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on:
  
  • Medicare coverage for catheter protection
  • Medicare’s End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program Proposed Rule
  • 2011 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule
  • National Coverage Analysis for ESAs for Treatment of Anemia in Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease– Including DPC’s Board Vice President sharing her personal experience live at the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) meeting
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on:
  
  • Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory
  • Committee on the use of erythropoeisis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in people with kidney disease
  • Proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies
• Department of Veterans Affairs regarding proposal to lower reimbursement rate for dialysis services

Member Activation

• Provided members with the information and tools to organize facility tours with lawmakers, fundraisers, educational events and more in recognition of World Kidney Day and National Kidney Month – as a result several awareness events were hosted by our members in their communities across the country
• Held Patient Ambassador Leadership Seminars (PALS) on working with the media, engaging in state advocacy, hosting in-district meetings and facility visits with lawmakers, and the ESRD payment bundle

Media
In addition to working with kidney trade media and policy publications to update audiences on the issues important to DPC and our members, multiple news outlets throughout the country highlighted our Patient Ambassadors’ and Board Members’ hard work to raise awareness about issues impacting kidney disease. A sampling of news outlets covering DPC’s actions this year include:

• The State (Columbia, SC)
• Middletown Journal (Middletown, OH)
• The Mississippi Press
• San Bernardino Sun (Southern California)
• Bremer County Independent (Bremer, Iowa)
• The Appeal Democrat (Northern California)
• Renal Business Today
• Nephrology News and Issues

DPC would like to thank our Corporate Partners for supporting our activities and initiatives.  We would also like to extend a special thank you to our Patient Ambassadors, without whom we would not be able to continue fulfilling our mission to improve the quality of life for dialysis patients.

We wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to the year ahead of successfully advocating to improve the quality of life of dialysis patients.

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