Policy Issues Archives - Page 55 of 61 - Dialysis Patient Citizens

DPC Encourages Coverage of Renal Dialysis in Exchange Plans

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:07+00:00January 6th, 2014|Categories: Comment Letter, Promote Financial Security|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

Hon. Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Hubert H. Humphrey Building 200 Independence Ave, SW Washington, D.C. 20201 Re: Coverage of Renal Dialysis in Exchange Plans Dear Administrator Tavenner: Dialysis Patient Citizens, America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, is comprised of more than 26,000 dialysis and pre-dialysis patients and their families. We seek to ensure the patient point of view is considered by policy makers. We are writing to express our concerns about language we found in a spot-check of exchange plan documents that appears to permit disenrollment of patients [...]

Giving Tuesday: What Can We as Dialysis Patients Give?

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:07+00:00December 6th, 2013|Categories: Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Patient's Voice, What is Kidney Disease?|Tags: Health Insurance Exchange|

By James Myers, DPC Patient Ambassador On the website for the Polycystic Kidney Foundation, there is an announcement about Giving Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013. It says you can give one of three ways: your voice, your time or your dollars. As a dialysis patient, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any money. But two things that I have a lot of are voice and time, and I am more than happy to lend those to the cause of defeating PKD. I can honestly say that having an invisible fatal illness has colored every decision that I have [...]

HOPE Act Signed Into Law

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:07+00:00December 1st, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article|Tags: HIV Positive Organ Transplantation|

After tireless efforts by DPC and others in the kidney community, President Obama signed the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act into law on November 21, 2013. The HOPE Act was introduced with strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives by Rep. Lois Capps and Rep. Andy Harris and in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Tom Coburn. The HOPE Act legalizes the research of transplanting HIV positive organs into HIV positive recipients. If this research proves this practice to be effective, the organ supply in the United States could increase by 500 organs per year. Many of these organs [...]

Patient Outcry Draws a Two-Year Reprieve From Dialysis Cuts
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Patient Outcry Draws a Two-Year Reprieve From Dialysis Cuts

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00December 1st, 2013|Categories: Article, Care Coordination, Dialysis Funding, Treatment Options|

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acknowledged patient concerns by delaying for two years its planned cut to the Medicare End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program. The Medicare agency’s decision didn’t give dialysis patients everything we asked for, but it does mean that nearly $2 billion slated to be cut from kidney care in 2014 and 2015 will remain available to treat patients. However, it also means that patient advocates must be vigilant for any signs that access to care is shrinking as providers anticipate cuts now scheduled to take effect in 2016. The Medicare ruling came in the [...]

CMS Releases Final Rule on 9.4% Cut to Medicare ESRD Program
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CMS Releases Final Rule on 9.4% Cut to Medicare ESRD Program

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00November 26th, 2013|Categories: Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care|

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just released a final rule on the proposed 9.4% cut to dialysis funding. The final rule made the following changes: The payment rate for dialysis services will remain the same in 2014 and 2015. The proposed 12% cut to dialysis was delayed until 2016 and will be phased in over 4 years. There will be a 50% increase in the home dialysis training payment. In response, DPC released the following statement: DPC appreciates the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) acknowledgment of patient concerns in delaying implementation of its proposed cut to [...]

Has the ACA Expanded Medicare’s Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Recipients?

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00November 18th, 2013|Categories: Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Patient's Voice|

By Jim Myers, DPC Patient Ambassador. I had a conversation with my doctor last week. (My nephrologist, Dr. Vavilala, we call him Dr. V). He asked me if I had heard anything during my last trip to Washington, D.C. about an extension of coverage through the ACA to kidney transplant patients of the immunosuppressive drug coverage beyond the 36 month period that currently exists. This rang a bell in the back of my brain, so I decided to check it out. Every transplant patient or transplant candidate knows the current status of the law. If you are a kidney transplant [...]

HOPE Act Moves to White House to be Signed into Law
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HOPE Act Moves to White House to be Signed into Law

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00November 13th, 2013|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article|Tags: HIV Positive Organ Transplantation|

The U.S. Congress took an important step Tuesday evening with House passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, which will allow research on donation of organs from deceased HIV-infected donors to HIV-infected recipients. Having been passed by the Senate in June, the bill is now positioned to move to the White House to be signed into law. The HOPE Act modernizes outdated federal law to reflect the current medical understanding of HIV infection and to allow for scientific research. For patients living with HIV, deceased donors with the same infection represent a unique source of organs. Passage of [...]

Alliance for Home Dialysis

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00November 1st, 2013|Categories: Other Links, Treatment Options|

Extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Waiver

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00October 31st, 2013|Categories: Comment Letter, Innovation|

Extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Waiver

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T02:08:08+00:00October 31st, 2013|Categories: Care Coordination, Comment Letter|

Justin Senior State Medicaid Director Agency for Health Care Administration 2727 Mahan Drive, MS #8 Tallahassee, Florida 32308 Re: Extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) Waiver (Project Number 11- W-00206/4) Dear Mr. Senior: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to provide the Agency for Health Care Administration with comments on extension of the managed care waiver. As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, DPC’s membership consists of more than 26,000 end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and their families. We seek to ensure the patient point of view is considered by policy makers on a wide range [...]

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