fbpx
FacebookXYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn

OP-ED Calls for equal Medigap coverage for all Medicare Enrollees

2024-03-29T01:09:16+00:00August 8th, 2023|Categories: Article, Medigap Coverage|

In a compelling opinion piece authored by Rich Sutphin, Executive Director of the West Virginia Rural Health Association, the call was made to West Virginia policymakers to ensure that their constituents were treated equally regarding access to affordable Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance coverage. The opinion piece was picked up by newspapers across the state, including The Herald Dispatch, The Weston Democrat, Mineral News and Tribune, The Jackson Star and Herald, The Wayne County News, The Preston County News and Journal and the West Virginia Press Association. You can read the op-ed here: https://wvpress.org/wvpa-sharing/opinion-west-virginia-kidney-patients-deserve-access-to-care-at-any-age/ DPC invites you to share your story in [...]

Read More

Affordable Medigap Access Now Available in Rhode Island, Kentucky and Virginia Coming Soon!

2024-03-29T01:09:16+00:00July 25th, 2023|Categories: Article, Medigap Coverage, News, Patient Ambassadors, State Advocacy|

During 2022 and 2023, DPC worked tirelessly to secure passage of legislation providing access to affordable Medigap coverage for under age 65 kidney failure patients living in three states. Those states – Kentucky, Rhode Island and Virginia, are creating regulations to implement the new state laws. The law in Rhode Island became effective July 1, 2023. In Kentucky and Virginia, the laws passed this year become effective January 1, 2024. If you live in one of these states and are not yet age 65, check with your dialysis facility finance or social workers to learn more about the Medigap Plans being [...]

Read More

Local View: Bridging the Medigap

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00July 18th, 2023|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

Published in the Lincoln Journal Star We hear endless stories in the news about challenges in our health care system, but oftentimes the effects feel abstract. As someone who has dedicated their career to improving the medical care and outcomes of patients with kidney disease through transplantation, I’ve seen firsthand how devastating kidney failure can be, particularly for Nebraskans who don’t have adequate health coverage. While the situation is grave, our neighboring states have shown how state governments can provide life-saving relief. We would be wise to follow their lead. More than 3,000 Cornhuskers are living with kidney failure, and [...]

Read More

Medicare Payment Rule for 2024 Shortchanges Dialysis Clinics on Rising Wages

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00July 6th, 2023|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, Promote Financial Security|

As kidney and other healthcare providers face workforce shortages, inflation, and higher wage demands, the federal agency which oversees Medicare is proposing a mere 1.7% increase in dialysis reimbursements for 2024. According to the government’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), wages and salaries increased 5.0% during the last year and increased 4.7% the year before; after insufficient updates over the past two years, Medicare payments are falling far behind the actual costs for clinic staff, potentially threatening patient access to care. Unlike updates to Social Security checks, which are determined by BLS inflation data, Medicare uses “forecasts” of future inflation. [...]

Read More

Nebraska resident rallies for LB-32

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00June 21st, 2023|Categories: Patient Stories in the News, Private Insurance Coverage|

NEBRASKA -- Fifteen states do not require insurers to offer Medigap policies to people under 65 who are already enrolled through Medicare according to AARP. Medigap helps patients to afford deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs with policies such as Medicare Part B. However, Nebraska is one of those states that doesn't require it to be offered, to the shock of one North Platte resident named Jean Kay battling multiple sclerosis. "It was mind-boggling," said Kay. Jean Kay has been living with MS for over 20 years. Back in 2018, she was denied supplemental insurance due to her age of 61, [...]

Read More

I Received a Kidney Transplant, but Concerns about Coverage Remain

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00June 20th, 2023|Categories: Blog, Medigap Coverage, Patient Ambassadors, Patient's Voice, Private Insurance Coverage|

Ruben Garcia, Webster, Texas After years on dialysis, I was fortunate to receive a kidney transplant. While I am grateful to be off dialysis, its emotional and financial burdens will take years to recover from. When I started dialysis I had no private insurance and was 100% reliant on Medicare. Medicare, however, only covers 80 percent of each treatment. I couldn’t afford to pay out of pocket, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t live without these treatments. Medicare also does not cover all costs of kidney transplants and the medications needed afterward. Going through dialysis while wondering [...]

Read More

Dialysis Patient Citizens Mourns the Loss of Terry Peeler

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00June 1st, 2023|Categories: Article, Board Members, Medigap Coverage|

It is with a heavy heart that Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) Board, staff, and volunteers learned of the passing of one of our Board Members, Terry Peeler. Terry was the first African American full-time Fire Chief and paramedic in Sumter County, Alabama, appointed in the year 2000. He proudly served as a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Livingston, Alabama. He was also elected Sumter County Coroner in 1999, a position he had been re-elected to. In October of 2016, Terry was diagnosed with end stage kidney disease and had to start dialysis, which meant retiring from his career as [...]

Read More

DPC advises dialysis patients covered by Medicaid to update contact information

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00May 13th, 2023|Categories: Article, Medicaid|

Many states used additional federal funding to expand Medicaid enrollment during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), first declared by the US Department of Health and Human Services on January 31, 2020 and ending May 11, 2023. With the end of the PHE, many federal programs and funding – including the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement and accompanying federal funding – will be ending. While it is unlikely that dialysis patients who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid (known as dual eligibles) will lose their Medicaid coverage, DPC is urging that they make sure the state has their current contact [...]

Read More

New bill offers hope for Nebraskans with kidney disease struggling to afford coverage

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00May 10th, 2023|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Patient Stories in the News, Spotlight|

We are in a critical moment for health care in Nebraska. According to the Nebraska Hospital Association, health care costs are on the rise and likely to stay high, in part due to inflation affecting hospital equipment, labor shortages and other factors. As these costs rise, hospitals are overflowing with patients despite falling numbers of COVID-19 cases. These pressures add up to create a concerning outlook for both health care providers and patients across Nebraska. This is especially true for those patients who were already struggling even before rising costs and limited space came to the forefront. Dialysis patients are at a distinct [...]

Read More

Local View: Time to close the Medigap

2024-03-29T01:09:17+00:00May 10th, 2023|Categories: Medigap Coverage, Patient Stories in the News|

Oct. 10, 2018 marked the start of an incredibly difficult period for my family. That was the day my husband Steve left our home in North Platte to move to North Dakota – more than 10 hours away – just so we could pay for the medical care I needed to fight multiple sclerosis. I was diagnosed with MS more than 20 years ago while working as a registered nurse. Its progression caused changes in my employment – from a clinic nurse and public health nurse to a sedentary position reviewing Medicare files. The disease’s progression eventually forced me to [...]

Read More
Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top