Dialysis Patient Citizens News
Letter: Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients
When I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in 2017, I was working for a major U.S. airline carrier with strong health insurance coverage. During COVID, as a flight attendant and flight service duty manager with 30 years of experience, I accepted an early-out retirement package. Dialysis had made it increasingly difficult to continue working, and my doctor advised it, given my high risk. As part of that package, I kept active employee-rate health coverage for 36 months. This stability was invaluable and allowed me to delay [...]
Support kidney protection act
I was born with kidney failure. I started dialysis at 14, received a transplant at 16, and after 13 years, I’m back on dialysis again. Living with kidney disease my entire life has taught me one thing: access to the right treatment at the right time makes all the difference. Yet too many dialysis patients, especially young people, face constant barriers to innovative therapies. Whether it’s treatments for anemia, infection prevention, or medications to reduce phosphorus, insurance systems fail to keep up with medical advancements. When that [...]
DPC Statement on Medicaid
May 18, 2026 Medicaid is not just a line item in a budget, it is a foundational pillar of health, dignity, and economic security for millions of Americans. It is a lifeline for our most vulnerable neighbors, including children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and working families who deserve access to quality, affordable healthcare. Any attempt to cut, cap, or eliminate Medicaid funding is a direct threat to the well-being of our communities. Slashing this vital program doesn't reduce the need for healthcare; it simply shifts the burden. It [...]
Letter: Proposed legislation holds promise of better care and outcomes for kidney patients. It deserves Utah leaders’ support.
In April 2022, I was diagnosed with kidney failure. By August, I had started dialysis and soon had to stop working full-time. Overnight, my life changed. Dialysis became my new reality, and every day was focused on simply making it through treatment and staying healthy enough to keep going. Kidney failure affects people from every walk of life, including professionals, caregivers and community members who want to continue contributing to society. Patients need more than basic treatment that keeps them alive. They need access to the newest [...]
Support dialysis protections
I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, at only 20 years old. Two years later, I began receiving dialysis to stay alive. I lost my job right before beginning dialysis and ultimately began dialysis on Medicare. Since Medicare only covers 80%, and my disability income disqualified me from Medicaid, I could not cover the remaining 20%. I had to go into medical debt just to survive. Six years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and 17 years later, I can now say that I am [...]
Nebraska delegation should support people on dialysis
At just 25 years old, I was diagnosed with renal failure caused by systemic lupus and immediately began dialysis. I was pregnant, undergoing chemotherapy and fighting for my life. The last thing I should have had to worry about was losing my health insurance. But I was terrified. My private insurance through Blue Cross BlueShield was the only thing standing between my family and financial ruin. My husband and I even discussed divorcing on paper just to protect him from bankruptcy. No one facing a life-threatening diagnosis [...]
Protect Dialysis Patients
I was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2006. I started dialysis immediately and received my first kidney transplant just 18 months later. That kidney gave me 13 years – years I spent working, living fully, and maintaining my health. Then, in 2020, my kidney failed. I returned to dialysis for five and a half years before receiving my second transplant this past February. Throughout my second period on dialysis, I continued working and maintained private insurance through my employer. However, a recent Supreme Court decision made it [...]
Senators, Please Support Dialysis Bill to Restore Protections
After 18 years on dialysis and nearly four years post-transplant, I have seen firsthand what happens when dialysis patients don’t have the insurance protections they need. As a longtime patient advocate, I’ve watched others struggle through a system that too often pulls the rug out from under people at their most vulnerable. Historically, there’s been legal protections allowing dialysis patients to stay on their private insurance for 30 months before switching to Medicare. That protection was a lifeline. It gave patients a real window to stabilize, navigate [...]
At Last, A Shorter Patient Experience Survey Comes Out This Spring!
By Alethea Walls, DPC Board of Directors Medicare’s In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Survey is one of the most meaningful tools patients have to share their experiences and influence improvements in dialysis care. We’re pleased to report that beginning with the next survey round, the questionnaire has been shortened to 39 questions, reducing the length of the old survey by 23 questions. For years, DPC has pointed out to Medicare officials the burden to dialysis patients of this survey. When Medicare surveys health plan enrollees or hospital patients [...]
Federal Court Strikes Down Attempt to Abolish Charitable Premium Assistance for Dialysis Patients
Several years ago, at the behest of the SEIU labor union, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 290 (AB 290), a bill intended to abolish charitable premium assistance for dialysis patients. In an April 7, 2026, decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down major provisions of AB 290. The court ruled that the law violated the First Amendment rights of dialysis providers and the American Kidney Fund (AKF), a nonprofit charity. The Ninth Circuit found that AB 290's primary provisions unconstitutionally burdened [...]
Proposed legislation would keep dialysis patients connected to care
As someone who has been on dialysis for over two decades, I know that access to consistent, affordable care is not optional; it's life or death. Kidney disease almost cost me my life. I spend over a month in the hospital when I was first diagnosed, and dialysis is what allowed me to rebuild my strength and survive. A previous kidney transplant eventually failed, and today I'm back on dialysis and at the top of Colorado's transplant list. Dialysis takes a massive physical and mental toll. Some [...]
Improving Kidney Health Hearing
Last week, The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on “Improving Kidney Health Through Better Prevention and Innovative Treatment”. Witnesses included Ashli Littleton, a 36-year-old Medicare beneficiary with ESRD; Suzanne Watnick, MD FASN, a nephrologist and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Washington; Robert Taylor, MD, a nephrologist and Chief Medical Officer of Dialysis Clinic, Inc.; and John Butler, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of Akebia since 2013. During the hearing, the witnesses and Members of Congress highlighted [...]
Letter: Protect dialysis coverage
Since coming to Congress, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, has worked across party lines to help our community. I hope she’ll do so again by helping ensure that Washington’s kidney disease patients, of which I am one, don’t go into financial ruin. After a recent Supreme Court ruling, private insurance companies are now able to push dialysis patients off their coverage and onto Medicare prematurely. Previously, if someone had private insurance when they got diagnosed with kidney failure and started dialysis, they could keep their full coverage [...]
Letter: Utah lawmakers must ensure that life-saving care is affordable and accessible. Expanding access to Medigap plans is crucial
In 2009, I was diagnosed with kidney failure. My condition deteriorated so quickly that I was life-flighted and placed in a medically induced coma for 10 days. When I woke up, I had to relearn how to walk and soon began dialysis. My kidneys briefly recovered, but in 2014 they failed again. After spending four years navigating the transplant waitlist, I was fortunate enough to receive a kidney in October 2018 at the University of Utah Hospital. I was able to move forward with transplantation only because [...]
Support S.1552/H.R. 4583 – The Living Donor Protection Act
This week, The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will be marking up S. 1552 – The Living Donor Protection Act introduced by Senators Tom Cotton (R‑AR) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D‑NY). This bill, and its’ House companion bill H.R. 4583, provides essential protections for living kidney donors, including job security, protection from insurance discrimination, and the financial burdens associated with transplantation. Specifically, The Living Donor Protection Act would: Prohibit life, disability, and long-term care insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage and from charging higher premiums for living [...]
Mother urges Congress to protect access to kidney care
My daughter, Diana, passed away at 45 due to complications from kidney failure. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 6, she later showed signs of kidney disease and needed dialysis for more than two years. Diana received two kidney transplants. The first, in 2008, was a gift from her aunt. We were fortunate that the transplant costs were covered. Without that support, too many living donor transplants are denied because of insurance barriers. In 2018, Diana was placed on the transplant list, and just one week [...]
One Week Left to Apply – 2026 Advocacy Day
Applications for DPC’s 2026 Advocacy Day are due next Friday, January 30th! Be sure to submit your application for a chance to come to Washington, D.C., June 29 – 30, 2026, and speak with your members of Congress about important pieces of legislation that will help improve the lives of kidney patients. Participants will be selected based on the quality of their application, legislative priorities, and previous involvement in DPC's advocacy efforts. We will hold a training session ahead of our advocacy day for those participating to explain [...]
Open Enrollment Deadlines for Texas Dialysis Patients
In a major victory for under age 65 Texans living on dialysis, House Bill 2516 became law in 2025. HB 2516 provides access for under-age 65 dialysis patients to purchase affordable Medigap insurance plans A, B and D at the same premium rate as those who are age 65. The remaining Medigap lettered plans are available at 200% of the age 65 premium. This legislation impacts not only individuals who have just started dialysis and enrolled in Medicare Part B, but it also includes a one-time, 6-month open enrollment [...]