Press Release Archives - Dialysis Patient Citizens

Dialysis Patient Citizens and Consumers’ Checkbook Introduce Dialysis Plan Choice To Help Patients During Open Enrollment
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Dialysis Patient Citizens and Consumers’ Checkbook Introduce Dialysis Plan Choice To Help Patients During Open Enrollment

Hannah Bracamonte2020-11-02T20:06:26+00:00November 2nd, 2020|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Care Coordination, Medicare Advantage, Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., -- Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) today introduced Dialysis Plan Choice, a new online tool designed in collaboration with Consumers' Checkbook for dialysis patients to quickly and easily compare their current Medicare Fee-For-Service plan with the options available to them through Medicare Advantage now that Open Enrollment is underway. "For many dialysis patients, this year marks the first time they will be eligible to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans thanks to the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016," said DPC Board President Andrew Conkling. "Since this is new territory for many dialysis patients, we wanted to provide them with [...]

Dialysis Patient Citizens Commends Introduction of the BETTER Kidney Care Act
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Dialysis Patient Citizens Commends Introduction of the BETTER Kidney Care Act

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-16T18:34:36+00:00September 16th, 2020|Categories: Care Coordination, Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (September 16, 2020) -- Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) today applauded introduction of the BETTER Kidney Care Act (H.R. 8254/S. 4574) by Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) along with Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3) and Jason Smith (R-MO-8). This bill would enhance access to care coordination services for thousands of patients across the United States currently living with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). "We applaud Senators Young and Sinema along with Representatives Blumenauer and Smith for introducing the BETTER Kidney Care Act. We are grateful for their continued leadership and efforts to improve the lives of Americans who suffer from kidney disease," said DPC Board President [...]

Dialysis Patient Citizens Applauds Introduction of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act
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Dialysis Patient Citizens Applauds Introduction of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-11T18:36:18+00:00September 8th, 2020|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Press Release|

Jack Reynolds WASHINGTON, D.C., (September 8, 2020) -- Dialysis Patients Citizens (DPC) today applauded the introduction of the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act, new legislation sponsored by U.S. Representative Cynthia Axne (D-IA-3) in honor of founding DPC Board member and longest serving president Jack Reynolds. This bill would expand Medigap coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients under the age of 65. “My top priorities in Congress have been to protect those living with pre-existing conditions and making health care accessible for those in need of treatment,” Rep. Axne said. “For someone like Jack who had kidney [...]

Dialysis Patient Citizens Files Lawsuit Against HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma Over New Regulation That Undercuts Dialysis Patient Access to Affordable, High-Quality Care
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Dialysis Patient Citizens Files Lawsuit Against HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma Over New Regulation That Undercuts Dialysis Patient Access to Affordable, High-Quality Care

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-24T16:18:19+00:00June 22nd, 2020|Categories: Care Coordination, Legal Defense, Medicare Advantage, News, Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 22, 2020) -- Today, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in opposition to a discriminatory new federal regulation that will limit the ability of hundreds of thousands of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients to access affordable, high quality treatment. “ESRD patients successfully fought to get Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would ensure [...]

Sen. Grassley, Leaders in Dialysis Community Pay Tribute to the Late Jack Reynolds, Former DPC President and Founding Board Member
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Sen. Grassley, Leaders in Dialysis Community Pay Tribute to the Late Jack Reynolds, Former DPC President and Founding Board Member

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-08T18:39:47+00:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (May 14, 2020) -- Today, Dialysis Patients Citizens (DPC) released statements from U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and leaders in the dialysis community in honor of the late Jack Reynolds, who served as former DPC president and a founding Board member. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “One of the privileges of public service is meeting Iowans like Jack Reynolds. A farm kid who nearly lost his life at age 4, Jack survived against the odds of a 100-gallon barrel of water crushing his abdomen. By age 22, his internal injuries led to renal failure. For more than 45 years, [...]

Patients and Advocacy Groups File Federal Lawsuit Against the State of California to Overturn AB 290
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Patients and Advocacy Groups File Federal Lawsuit Against the State of California to Overturn AB 290

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-24T16:25:37+00:00November 4th, 2019|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Improve Access to Care, Legal Defense, Press Release, State Advocacy|

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Two kidney failure patients, together with two patient advocacy groups—the American Kidney Fund (AKF) and Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC)—filed a federal lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the State of California. The lawsuit, Doe vs. Becerra, asks the court to strike down AB 290, the newly enacted law that will do irreversible harm to dialysis and transplant patients who need charitable assistance to help them pay for health care. Filed against California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Shelley Rouillard, Director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, and Susan Fanelli, Acting Director of the [...]

Spending Bill Ensures Dialysis Patients Can Access Life-Saving Care

Hannah Bracamonte2020-03-21T20:43:09+00:00February 9th, 2018|Categories: Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Press Release, Promote Financial Security|

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Advocates for dialysis patients are pleased that the federal spending bill which funds the government through March 23rd includes several provisions that will help people with kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), gain access to life-extending dialysis treatments. The bill includes language from the Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3178), which was introduced July 7 of last year by Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Committee. The language permits health care providers to utilize data from home dialysis [...]

Dialysis Patient Advocates Urge Congress to Improve Kidney Disease Research and Care

Hannah Bracamonte2020-12-07T19:45:06+00:00May 30th, 2017|Categories: Dialysis Funding, Medigap Coverage, Press Release|

Advocates for dialysis patients announced their strong support of bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress last week that would augment research on kidney disease, improve coordination among kidney care providers and expand coverage options for patients with kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (H.R. 2644) would improve the care of the more than 675,000 ESRD patients nationwide who require transplantation or frequent dialysis treatments to survive. Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), a leading advocacy group for people with kidney disease that represents nearly 30,000 dialysis and pre-dialysis patients, is particularly [...]

Dialysis Patient Advocates Applaud Ruling in Case Against CMS

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-24T16:49:43+00:00January 25th, 2017|Categories: Access to Transplant, Charitable Premium Assistance, Legal Defense, Medigap Coverage, Press Release|

Federal court blocks CMS regulation that would give insurers veto power over access to private coverage; judge calls it ‘arbitrary and capricious’ Washington, D.C. – Advocates for dialysis patients are celebrating a federal court ruling today to grant a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from implementing a regulation that could force patients off their current health insurance and jeopardize their access to care. In enjoining the regulation’s enforcement, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas held that the rule was 1) procedurally defective because HHS adopted it without first giving [...]

Dialysis Patient Advocates Seek Restraining Order Against CMS

Hannah Bracamonte2020-09-24T16:50:32+00:00January 9th, 2017|Categories: Access to Transplant, Care Coordination, Charitable Premium Assistance, Medigap Coverage, Press Release, State Advocacy|

Lawsuit charges that CMS rule to take effect Jan. 13 gives insurers illegal veto power over access to private coverage Washington, D.C. – Advocates for dialysis patients filed suit in federal court today to prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing a rule that could force patients off their current health plans and jeopardize their access to care. The regulation, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Dec. 13 outside the formal rulemaking process, gives insurers the power to prevent dialysis patients from receiving charitable premium assistance that makes it possible for [...]

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