At 12, a freak accident caused my kidneys to fail. My mother gave me the gift of life a second time when she donated one of her kidneys. But by 20, my body began
rejecting it, and I had to start dialysis, a grueling treatment that filtered my blood because my kidneys no longer could. Three times a week, I sat in a chair for hours just to stay alive.
Eventually, I received a second transplant. But even post-transplant I need expensive medications, lab work, and regular checkups.
Thankfully, I have private insurance. It gave me coverage that Medicare could not, especially in those critical early months. I still rely on it to supplement Medicare today. But a recent Supreme Court ruling now gives room for insurers to push patients off private plans virtually immediately after they begin dialysis. This creates financial distress and lessens patients’ chances at a transplant.
Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) can help fix this by co-sponsoring the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act, which would preserve access to private coverage during the full 30-month transition period, the previous norm. That coverage can mean the difference between thriving and falling through the cracks.
Danny Iniguez, Kingsburg, California
