My sister and I have polycystic kidney disease and shared the same dialysis schedule for years. I’ve been on dialysis nearly 15 years, surviving heart surgery and
breast cancer before receiving a kidney transplant last October. My sister was not so lucky.
After losing private insurance through divorce, she refused disability, believing she couldn’t survive on those benefits. Our family paid out of pocket to keep her on dialysis. By the time she got coverage, she had already started to give up. Her transplant failed. She passed away two years ago.
When dialysis patients feel abandoned by the system, they lose hope and stop fighting.
A recent Supreme Court ruling allows insurers to cut dialysis patients off before the traditional 30-month protection period ends. The Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act would fix this. I urge Rep. Alma Adams and Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd to support it. Dialysis patients deserve protection.
Denise Tatum, Charlotte, North Carolina
