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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 729 blog entries.

DPC Patient Ambassador Spotlight – Cassie Bertwell

2026-09-23T13:09:10+00:00September 22nd, 2026|Categories: Featured Spotlight, Get Involved, Patient Ambassadors, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage, Spotlight|

Check out our Patient Ambassador Spotlight, where we highlight members who elevate the voices of people with kidney disease. This month’s Spotlight is on Cassie Bertwell from Lincoln, Nebraska. When Cassie was just 25 years old, she was diagnosed with renal failure, caused by systemic lupus, and immediately began dialysis. She was pregnant at the time, undergoing chemotherapy, and fighting for her life - while also worrying about losing her health insurance. Cassie was terrified. Her private insurance was the only safety net keeping her family out of financial crisis. She and her husband even discussed divorcing on paper to [...]

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Take Action Today!

2026-09-22T16:51:30+00:00September 21st, 2026|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Get Involved, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, News, Policy Issues, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care, State Advocacy, Treatment Options|

In light of last week’s hearing, DPC would like to encourage our members to help keep the momentum going. Visit our kidneyaction.org website to learn more about the Kidney Care Access Protection Act (S. 2730 / H.R. 6214) and the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act (H.R. 2199/S. 1173), and easily contact your member of Congress to ask them to support these two very important pieces of legislation. Thank you for helping to elevate the voice of kidney patients across the country! Take Action Now

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House Hearing on Healthcare Issues Considers Kidney Care Bills

2026-09-21T18:56:24+00:00September 16th, 2026|Categories: Article, Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, Medicare Advantage, News, Policy Issues, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

A September 15th hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee titled Examining Legislative Proposals to Reform Medicare Provider Payment had an important DPC priority on its agenda. In his opening statement, Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, mentioned that “two bills before us today are the Kidney Care Access Protection Act and the Keeping Individuals with Dialysis Needs Equipped through Year-round Remote Monitoring Act, which both aim to improve care access for individuals affected by kidney disease.” HR 6214, the Kidney Care Access Protection Act, is one of DPC’s top advocacy priorities. The bill would ensure [...]

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Kidney failure patient implores Congress to pass Kidney Care Access Protection Act

2026-09-03T16:32:00+00:00September 2nd, 2026|Categories: Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, Patient Ambassadors, Patient Stories in the News|

Dear Editor: In 2015, I was raising my family, preparing for law school, and building a future I believed in. Then, seemingly overnight, my life changed; I was diagnosed with kidney failure. The years that followed were some of the hardest I’ve ever faced. I’m beyond grateful that I received a kidney transplant in 2021, but the road there was long, painful, and at times, discouraging. What stands out most from that journey is just how outdated and underfunded kidney care in this country still is. Medicare doesn’t go far enough to support dialysis centers or encourage the kind of [...]

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Dialysis Act would give patients more stability, options

2026-08-28T15:32:07+00:00August 28th, 2026|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Patient Ambassadors, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security|

I was first diagnosed with kidney failure in 2005 and immediately started emergency dialysis. It was a shock, but I wasn’t about to let it stop me. I began peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home so I could keep working as a teacher and a detention center tutor. Even while managing treatment, I continued to show up for my students every day. After a successful kidney transplant in 2015, I got almost ten years of freedom from dialysis. But when my transplanted kidney began to fail again in 2023, I returned to PD late last year. I’m back on the transplant [...]

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Lifesaving

2026-08-27T17:57:20+00:00August 27th, 2026|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Patient Ambassadors, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security|

A recent Supreme Court decision allows private insurers to push new dialysis patients — those who take a frequent treatment for kidney failure to survive — off their plans they’ve worked hard to keep. It’s a direct assault on the lives of dialysis patients across America. Forcing patients off their private insurance immediately after diagnosis — often within months — is unjust. I’ve lived on dialysis for over four years, endured the pain of needles tearing through my skin twice daily, and fought to keep my dignity in a system that often prioritizes profits over people. I’ve been lucky; I [...]

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DPC Patient Ambassador Spotlight – Pesh Patel

2026-09-22T16:44:06+00:00August 26th, 2026|Categories: Get Involved, Patient Ambassadors, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage, Spotlight|

Check out our Patient Ambassador Spotlight, where we highlight members who elevate the voices of people with kidney disease. This month’s Spotlight is on Pesh Patel from Lafayette, New Orleans. In 2017, while working in Melbourne, Australia, Pesh became unable to walk three city blocks without stopping to catch his breath. He was rushed to the hospital, where he found out that one of his kidneys had never fully developed, and the other was only 2% functional. Pesh then spent 15 months on hemodialysis before receiving a transplant in 2018. Two and a half years later though, his body rejected [...]

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DPC Responds to Medicare Dialysis Payment Rule

2026-08-26T14:47:07+00:00August 26th, 2026|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Comment Letter, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, News, Policy Issues, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

DPC submitted comments on Medicare’s proposed payment update for 2027. DPC urged CMS to change its current policies, which continue to cause financial stress to dialysis care, staffing shortages, and lack of patient access to new and innovative therapies. For 2027, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to increase the ESRD PPS base rate to $299.55, which will increase total payments to ESRD facilities by approximately 1.1%. However, DPC notes, the current inflation rate is 3.4%, the Wall Street Journal’s expert panel of economists forecasts 3.4% inflation for the next year, and the most recent producer price [...]

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DPC’s Letter to Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on CMS-1846-P: CY 2027 Changes to the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System, Acute Kidney Injury Dialysis (AKI) Payment, and ESRD Quality Incentive Program

2026-08-25T14:49:06+00:00August 24th, 2026|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Comment Letter, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

August 24, 2026 The Honorable Mehmet Oz, Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20001 Re:       CMS-1846-P: CY 2027 Changes to the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System, Acute Kidney Injury Dialysis (AKI) Payment, and ESRD Quality Incentive Program Dear Dr. Oz Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) offers comments on the above referenced Rule. DPC's membership, currently about 35,000, is restricted to kidney disease patients and their family members. DPC is a patient-led organization.  Our by-laws require that the President, Vice President and at least 51% of the Board be current dialysis patients.  The [...]

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Dialysis Patient Citizens and the DPC Education Center Mourn the Passing of Arthur Hill

2026-08-20T13:22:26+00:00August 20th, 2026|Categories: Article, Board Members|

It is with a heavy heart that DPC and the DPC Education Center Board, staff, and volunteers learned of the passing of one of our Board members, Arthur Hill. Arthur worked as a distressed assets consultant for nearly 30 years before being diagnosed with kidney failure. From that point on, he applied his sharp analytical skills to exploring how advances in technology could be leveraged to help kidney patients and dedicated his time to patient advocacy. Arthur was instrumental in passing Indiana Senate Bill 215 (Public Law 28-2024), landmark legislation that reduced monthly Medigap premiums for dialysis patients under 65. [...]

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