fbpx
FacebookXYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn

Promoting Care Coordination for Dialysis Patients

2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00October 10th, 2013|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Care Coordination|

Federal policymakers have long grappled with the problem of better coordinating care for Medicare beneficiaries. As the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has noted, "Gaps exist in care coordination in fee-for-service Medicare because of the fragmentation of service delivery, the lack of tools to help communicate across settings or providers, and the lack of a financial incentive to coordinate care." Part of the problem is that the Original, or fee-for-service, Medicare largely froze in place mainstream medical and insurance practices as they stood in 1965, when the program was created. Many health policy thought-leaders believe that the problem of uncoordinated care has been [...]

Read More

OPTN/UNOS Approves New Deceased Donor Kidney Allocation Policy

2024-03-29T02:08:57+00:00July 19th, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article|

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) board approved a new kidney allocation policy that will substantially change the way deceased donor kidneys are distributed. Many components of the policy will benefit dialysis patients greatly. For example, measuring wait times from the initiation of dialysis will improve access to transplants for those patients who do not receive crucial kidney transplant education. The prior system measured wait times from when the patient signed up for a transplant. The new system will help those who are on dialysis longer get transplants sooner. DPC also supports improving [...]

Read More

Dialysis Advocates Praise Introduction of Kidney Transplant Drug Access Legislation

2024-03-29T02:08:59+00:00March 28th, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Press Release|

Urge Support for the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (Washington, DC) – In honor of National Kidney Month, dialysis patient advocates praised the introduction of the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (S.323/H.R. 1325). This vital legislation will extend anti-rejection drug coverage for kidney transplant patients under the age of 65 beyond the current three year period. The bill would ensure transplant patients receive the necessary medications to maximize the life of the donated organ while using our limited federal resources more efficiently. “While receiving a kidney transplant is a [...]

Read More

Congressional Corner: Two Transplant Bills Introduced in Congress

2024-03-29T02:08:59+00:00March 22nd, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Improve Access to Care|Tags: |

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Recently, two bills relating to kidney and organ transplants have been introduced in Congress. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi introduced the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (S. 323) in the Senate, and Congressman Michael Burgess and Congressman Ron Kind introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1325) in the House. If passed, these bills will extend Medicare immunosuppressive drug coverage for kidney transplant patients under 65 years old for the life of the graft. Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries who are [...]

Read More

Congressional Corner: Over the Cliff – Then Quickly Back Up Again

2024-03-29T02:09:00+00:00January 3rd, 2013|Categories: Blog, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Transportation Services|

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Well, we went over the fiscal cliff. And then, just hours later a deal was struck, a few hours late but a deal to bring us back from the brink nonetheless. The 112th Congress concluded its tumultuous, and gridlocked 2 years by passing a deal to avoid massive tax hikes for the middle class and a 27% decrease in payments to Medicare providers on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, cuts to the Medicare ESRD program were still included in the fiscal cliff package. The deal calls on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid [...]

Read More

Congressional Corner: A Year of DPC Advocacy Successes!

2024-03-29T02:09:00+00:00December 12th, 2012|Categories: Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medicaid, State Advocacy, Transportation Services|Tags: , |

By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations As 2012 comes to an end, DPC has a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to. DPC staff and most importantly our members, have achieved so much this year, bringing awareness to kidney disease issues both in Congress and in their communities! Patient Ambassadors held dozens of kidney and dialysis awareness events across the country in support of World Kidney Day and other events throughout the year. Patient Ambassadors taught members of their churches and civic organizations as well as youth in schools about the importance of keeping your [...]

Read More

From the Welcome Desk at DPC: November

2024-03-29T02:09:01+00:00November 28th, 2012|Categories: Blog, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage|

By Stephen C., Administrative Assistant Hello all! I hope everyone’s doing well and you’re all ready for a wonderful (renal-friendly) holiday season. This week, I wanted to share my experience visiting the kind folks at ESRD Network 11 in Milwaukee for their annual meeting. I had a great time talking with nurses and patients about everything we do at DPC. I think my favorite moment during the whole event was when a nurse approached our table and asked me if we were doing anything about immunosuppressant drug coverage for transplant patients. She explained that the lack of immunosuppressant coverage was causing [...]

Read More

Changes are Coming to Kidney Transplant Allocation Policies

2024-03-29T02:09:01+00:00November 27th, 2012|Categories: Access to Transplant, Blog|

By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs When DPC weighs in on policy proposals, we aim to speak on behalf of the people that we represent. This means that periodically we look to all of you to let us know how you feel about certain changes and how you think they will affect your care…and this is one of those times. Recently, the Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN) and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) released a proposal to change the way kidney transplants are allocated. The proposal makes several key modifications to current policy that could have an impact [...]

Read More
Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top