My father, Earl, treated dialysis like going to work. Diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, he went on dialysis in 2014 and never let it slow him down. He lost weight, got healthier, and even won a Halloween costume contest that fall (my sister dressed him up as a wizard). He was in his 70s and furious about it. That photo is one of our family’s most treasured memories. Through his dialysis journey, I watched my dad find a new community and family at his clinic. I also saw firsthand how vulnerable that lifeline can be and how much [...]

When I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in 2017, I was working for a major U.S. airline carrier with strong health insurance coverage. During COVID, as a flight attendant and flight service duty manager with 30 years of experience, I accepted an early-out retirement package. Dialysis had made it increasingly difficult to continue working, and my doctor advised it, given my high risk. As part of that package, I kept active employee-rate health coverage for 36 months. This stability was invaluable and allowed me to delay enrolling in Medicare until the month of my transplant. No dialysis patient should [...]

I never imagined that before my 30th birthday, I would be diagnosed with kidney failure. But on Oct. 4, 2023, during my first year as an English teacher, that became my reality. I started dialysis at a clinic before transitioning to home hemodialysis. I’ve had to stop teaching, restructure my life around treatment and navigate a healthcare system I was unprepared for. When I was diagnosed, I didn’t yet have insurance through my job .I received temporary disability for a few months before being pressured to resign from a first-year contract with no job protections. No one told me I [...]

Kidney failure has taught me a thing or two. After 18 years on dialysis and receiving a kidney transplant, my life has changed drastically. In the initial 30 months of dialysis, dialysis patients have traditionally had the option to keep their private insurance in order to plan for their inevitable transition to Medicare. This planning period is especially important for patients who may no longer receive employer-provided insurance, since dialysis often prevents people from working. Yet, a recent Supreme Court decision allows private insurers to push dialysis patients onto Medicare too early and potentially leaving them with thousands of dollars [...]

I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, at only 20 years old. Two years later, I began receiving dialysis to stay alive. I lost my job right before beginning dialysis and ultimately began dialysis on Medicare. Since Medicare only covers 80%, and my disability income disqualified me from Medicaid, I could not cover the remaining 20%. I had to go into medical debt just to survive. Six years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and 17 years later, I can now say that I am out of debt. I became a nurse, received an MBA, worked hard and [...]

At just 25 years old, I was diagnosed with renal failure caused by systemic lupus and immediately began dialysis. I was pregnant, undergoing chemotherapy and fighting for my life. The last thing I should have had to worry about was losing my health insurance. But I was terrified. My private insurance through Blue Cross BlueShield was the only thing standing between my family and financial ruin. My husband and I even discussed divorcing on paper just to protect him from bankruptcy. No one facing a life-threatening diagnosis should ever have to consider something like that. After 14 months of dialysis, [...]

After 18 years on dialysis and nearly four years post-transplant, I have seen firsthand what happens when dialysis patients don’t have the insurance protections they need. As a longtime patient advocate, I’ve watched others struggle through a system that too often pulls the rug out from under people at their most vulnerable. Historically, there’s been legal protections allowing dialysis patients to stay on their private insurance for 30 months before switching to Medicare. That protection was a lifeline. It gave patients a real window to stabilize, navigate their treatment, and potentially receive a transplant before being forced onto Medicare. Without [...]