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First class of Community Health Workers complete Chronic Kidney Disease training program

2024-09-26T14:10:05+00:00September 2nd, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Promote Financial Security|

DPC is pleased to announce that the first graduating class of community health workers (CHW) from Illinois have completed the Chronic Kidney Disease CHW training curriculum. DPC has led this effort in Illinois over the last two years, developing the first-in-the-nation kidney disease training curriculum for CHWs. The training will help CHWs educate their communities about kidney disease and help people at risk for kidney failure learn how to take care of their health, slow disease progression and reduce the number of people who start dialysis in the hospital emergency room as they are not aware that their kidneys are [...]

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DPC Comments to CMS Sound Alarm on Workforce Shortages

2024-08-22T14:11:27+00:00August 20th, 2024|Categories: Article, Comment Letter, Innovation, Medicare Advantage, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

In our comments responding to Medicare’s annual ESRD Payment Rule, DPC took the government to task over payment updates that lag increases in labor costs and failure to effectively cover new drugs for dialysis patients. The proposed rule grants a net increase in the base rate of only 0.8% during a year in which wages, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, rose 4.2%. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates a margin of zero for dialysis facilities in 2024, with many rural and low-volume facilities in the red. This occurs at a time in which a Supreme Court decision has emboldened [...]

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DPC’s Letter to Hon. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator for CMS, on CMS-1805-P

2024-08-19T16:23:37+00:00August 19th, 2024|Categories: Comment Letter, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Policy Issues, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

August 19, 2024 Hon. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD  21244 Re: CMS-1805-P:  End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System, Payment for Renal Dialysis Services Furnished to Individuals with Acute Kidney Injury, Conditions for Coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities, End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program, and End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) writes to offer its comments on the above referenced proposed 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 [...]

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State Advocacy Update – Council of State Governments Meetings

2024-07-25T17:45:31+00:00July 25th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Medigap Coverage, News, Policy Issues, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care, State Advocacy|

DPC’s two State Advocacy Directors have been busy advocating for dialysis patients this summer. Pamela Zielske, DPC’s Western Region Advocacy Director, attended the 77th Council of State Governments Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon earlier this month. The event provided an outstanding opportunity to cultivate relationships with state legislators and attend policy sessions and legislative learning labs, including one hosted by Fresenius Medical Care on Improving Equity and Health Outcomes in Kidney Health Care. With legislators in attendance from 13 western states, the CSG West Meeting was a tremendous opportunity to elevate our advocacy work on behalf of dialysis patients with [...]

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Dialysis Patient Citizens Announces First-in-the-Nation Kidney Disease Training Curriculum for Community Health Workers

2024-07-11T16:38:32+00:00July 11th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Press Release|

Registration is now open for community health workers to sign up for the CHW Chronic Kidney Disease Training through the Illinois Public Health Association WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2024) - Today, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), the nation’s largest non-profit advocacy organization for dialysis patients and their families, is announcing a first-in-the-nation kidney disease training curriculum for community health workers. The training will help community health workers educate their communities about kidney disease and help people at risk for kidney failure learn how to take care of their health and slow the progression of the disease. “Community health workers are an [...]

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Action Alert: H.R. 5027/S. 4469 – The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act

2024-06-27T14:07:34+00:00June 25th, 2024|Categories: Article, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Medigap Coverage, Promote Financial Security, Quality Incentive Program, Take Action|

The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (H.R. 5027/S. 4469) sets the stage for the future of kidney care. Representatives Carol Miller (R-WV) and Terri Sewell (D-AL)  re-introduced the bill in the House of Representatives on July 28, 2023 and Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) re-introduced the bill in the Senate on June 5, 2024. If passed, this legislation would improve efforts to prevent and better understand chronic kidney disease (CKD) by ensuring appropriate reimbursement for quality care and improve patient access to the best drugs, technology and innovations along the kidney care continuum. One [...]

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DPC Asks Medicare Officials to Reverse Pruritis Drug Fiasco

2024-06-27T14:45:47+00:00June 12th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, Protect Patient Care, Treatment Options|

In a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) asked for a “do-over” in the rollout of Korsuva, a drug that treats ESRD-related pruritis. Medicare makes an add-on payment for new drugs that expires after two years, leaving uncertainty about how providers can offer such drugs to patients when that period ends. This uncertainty discouraged nephrologists from prescribing the medication. Empirical research has found a prevalence of moderate to severe pruritis among dialysis patients of 33 percent, but Korsuva has been dispensed to fewer than one percent of patients. In the letter, several DPC [...]

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DPC’s Letter to Hon. Jonathan Blum, Principal Deputy Administrator for CMS, on New Drugs in the ESRD PPS

2024-06-27T14:42:14+00:00June 11th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Comment Letter, Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, Protect Patient Care, Treatment Options|

June 11, 2024 The Honorable Jonathan Blum Principal Deputy Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC  20515 Re:  New drugs in the ESRD PPS Dear Principal Deputy Administrator Blum: In our comments on the 2024 ESRD payment rule, we expressed our concerns about how patients experienced the rollout of Korsuva, the drug that treats ESRD-related pruritis. We noted that the prescribing behavior of nephrologists has amounted to, in effect, a de facto embargo of the medication. Empirical research has found a prevalence of moderate to severe pruritis among dialysis patients of 33 percent, but [...]

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Letter: Medicare, Medicaid not keeping up with inflation, hurting patient care

2024-06-06T16:32:28+00:00June 5th, 2024|Categories: Dialysis Funding, Medicare Advantage, Patient Stories in the News, Staffing Shortages|

Dear Editor, I was born with a rare genetic disorder that caused my kidneys and eyes to be underdeveloped. I have battled chronic kidney disease at all levels throughout my entire life. At age 25, I went into complete kidney failure (AKA End Stage Renal Disease) and began dialysis, which is a continuous and grueling treatment which does the work my kidneys can’t. The financial and emotional difficulties I’ve dealt with have been very challenging. Unfortunately, I must also worry about medical workforce shortages caused by a lack of federal funding. Over the past few years, the Centers for Medicare [...]

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DPC’s 2024 Advocacy Day

2024-05-23T14:34:34+00:00May 20th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Get Involved, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Medigap Coverage, News, Patient Ambassadors, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

Earlier this month, DPC hosted our annual Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. where we bring together patients, family members, and care givers to meet with their Members of Congress to elevate the patient story for dialysis patients. This year we had 65 advocates attend, representing 25 states, who had almost 80 Congressional meetings. Our patients spoke to Congressional offices asking them to support H.R. 6860 – The Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act and H.R. 5027 – The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act. These two bills would allow dialysis patients access to private insurance and Medigap [...]

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