Dear Editor,
I have been living with kidney disease for over 15 years. Diagnosed in 2009 while I was pregnant with my daughter, I learned quickly that kidney failure doesn’t discriminate. It comes for everyone, including mothers, teachers, workers, and neighbors.
At the time of my diagnosis, I was employed by Metro North Railroad in New York City and had private health insurance, which was a lifeline when I began in-center hemodialysis in 2010. My first transplant in 2012 gave me five years of stability before my new kidney failed in 2017. I retired, transitioned to Medicare, and spent nearly eight years back on dialysis. Last year, I finally received my second transplant.
Even with both Medicare and my husband’s private insurance, I have spent nearly $20,000 out of pocket in the last two years. I cannot imagine carrying that burden without any private coverage, which is exactly the reality that a 2022 Supreme Court ruling now makes possible. Insurers can push dialysis patients off their private coverage before the traditional 30-month protection period ends, forcing them onto Medicare early and exposing them, as well as their dependents, to devastating financial strain.
That is why I am urging Representative Trent Kelly and Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith to support the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. This bill would close that loophole and restore patients’ private insurance during their first 30 months of treatment.
Kidney patients are regular people who happen to need our kidneys to work. We deserve the stability to fight for our health, not a financial crisis on top of a medical one.
Kristal Bell, Olive Branch, Mississippi
Kristal’s LTE was originally published in the September 27. 2026 print edition of The Commercial Appeal.
