fbpx

Medicare Drug Plans Are Getting Better Next Year. Some Will Also Cost More.

2024-10-24T12:55:43+00:00October 21st, 2024|Categories: Article, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medicare Advantage, News, Promote Financial Security|

By Susan Jaffe October 21, 2024 When Pam McClure learned she’d save nearly $4,000 on her prescription drugs next year, she said, “it sounded too good to be true.” She and her husband are both retired and live on a “very strict” budget in central North Dakota. By the end of this year, she will have spent almost $6,000 for her medications, including a drug to control her diabetes. McClure, 70, is one of about 3.2 million people with Medicare prescription drug insurance whose out-of-pocket medication costs will be capped at $2,000 in 2025 because of the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, according [...]

Letter: Dialysis patients deserve better

2024-10-21T17:11:07+00:00October 4th, 2024|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

I remember being diagnosed with kidney disease in 2012 and beginning peritoneal dialysis in 2014. It was an undoubtedly difficult period in my life. Fortunately, I could continue working full time, which allowed me to keep my private insurance. Although Medicare became my primary plan, my private insurance covered 20% of the bill that Medicare did not. My private insurance also broadened my access to treatments and medications. Most patients on dialysis are not well enough to continue working and rely entirely on public assistance. Patients must pay 20% of the bill in states without an affordable Medigap plan to [...]

Preserve health protections

2024-10-03T19:11:31+00:00October 2nd, 2024|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

To the editor: I’ve had kidney troubles ever since I was born. It’s been exhausting managing my health care needs. It became even harder when I began dialysis, the only treatment for kidney failure besides a transplant. Taking care of my health while fulfilling my responsibilities as a mother and a business owner was overwhelming. If you or a loved one have had intensive medical needs, you know how incredibly hard daily life becomes. Eventually, I was able to receive a kidney transplant — only because I have private insurance in addition to Medicare. It’s unconscionable that dialysis patients without [...]

Private Insurance for Dialysis Care Introduced in the Senate

2024-09-26T14:10:02+00:00September 25th, 2024|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Improve Access to Care, Private Insurance Coverage, Promote Financial Security, Protect Patient Care|

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) recently introduced The Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act (S. 5018), which is the Senate companion to H.R. 6860 introduced earlier this year. If you are a dialysis patient, you may be eligible for Medicare, but you also have the right to keep your private employer-sponsored health insurance for up to 30 months after being diagnosed with kidney failure. However, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision could limit your access to private coverage by allowing health plans to cut dialysis benefits from their networks and impose stricter rules. Along [...]

Letter: Rep. Peters and Other Leaders Must Support Legislation Protecting Dialysis Patients

2024-10-24T12:59:23+00:00September 23rd, 2024|Categories: Featured Spotlight, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage, Spotlight|

Like over 91,000 Californians, my father suffers from end stage renal disease — kidney failure, or ESRD. My father has been receiving dialysis, the only treatment for ESRD besides a kidney transplant, for over 18 years. Dialysis is a life-consuming, exhausting treatment, but it keeps my father alive. I have served as my father’s part-time caregiver during these years. Unfortunately, many dialysis patients struggle with their healthcare expenses. Many rely on their employer-provided private insurance, especially during the first months of care, but dialysis treatment can make it very challenging to continue working. Since most receive their diagnosis unexpectedly, having that insurance [...]

A letter to the editor

2024-09-17T18:29:33+00:00September 14th, 2024|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

One day, I began feeling very tired and felt short-of-breath. Next thing I knew, I awoke in the hospital and received the diagnosis of End Stage Renal Disease, or kidney failure. I immediately needed to undergo dialysis, the three times per week treatment which filters my blood. I received dialysis treatments for five years in order to stay alive, before receiving a kidney transplant in 2016. Unfortunately, many dialysis patients struggle to pay for their all of their health care expenses, which often puts transplant out of reach for many. Thankfully, I qualified for Medicare and Medicaid. However, many patients [...]

Congress: Please stand up for Minnesotans on dialysis

2024-09-17T18:33:04+00:00September 13th, 2024|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

When I was serving as my father’s caregiver through his dialysis treatments, I was struck by how difficult it can be to navigate the health insurance landscape. I was constantly on the phone with Medicare and the VA to ensure he was covered. Dialysis is an essential treatment that extends someone’s life and keeps them healthy, which is why it shouldn’t be hard to get proper coverage. Yet instead of becoming easier for patients, it’s getting even more complicated. The Supreme Court recently ruled that private insurers may no longer have to provide full coverage for dialysis treatments, even though [...]

Letter: ‘Requesting legislative action’

2024-09-17T18:20:12+00:00September 13th, 2024|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

I urge U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) to support the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. This legislation allows new dialysis patients to keep their private insurance, a critical financial lifeline, for their initial months of care. Dialysis is the only treatment for those awaiting a kidney transplant. However, a recent Supreme Court decision enables private insurers to weaken coverage in the first months of care, essentially pushing patients onto Medicare prematurely. This shift places enormous burdens on patients who need stability during a challenging time when they are often focused on just trying to keep their jobs. I was [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Go to Top