I have been on dialysis treatments for almost 13 years due to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Kidney disease can be a lot to handle with frequent dialysis treatments, doctor's appointments, and medications. On top of the medical responsibilities, I must ensure I have the proper insurance coverage. Initially after my diagnosis, I was fortunate to be covered by my wife’s employer-sponsored insurance. However, after 30 months, I had to switch to Medicare as my primary coverage, with my wife’s plan as my secondary coverage. This was often confusing in billing situations and created a hassle for me to explain to [...]

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” are the inalienable rights which our government was created to secure. Thomas Jefferson famously penned these words when authoring the Declaration of Independence, but nearly 250 years later, those rights are at risk for dialysis patients thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling. This June, in Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., the high court sided with a private insurer that was being sued for limiting its coverage of dialysis to 30 treatments. The court ruled the plan wasn’t discriminating against kidney disease patients, as the 30 treatment threshold applied to [...]

At 21, I was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, which meant my kidneys were failing. Until my diagnosis, I was completely healthy, in the middle of nursing school and working full time. The onset of this disease was the beginning of a series of hospitalizations, surgeries and dialysis treatments. I began dialysis while I waited for my kidney transplant. I needed these treatments not only to live, but so I could finish nursing school and eventually return to full-time work. One of the biggest challenges beyond my health issues was insurance coverage. This problem could potentially worsen for dialysis patients with [...]

Four simple words sit above the entrance to the Supreme Court: “Equal Justice Under Law.” That short phrase, though, carries immense weight. It is a promise to the American people that we will receive fair treatment in our justice system, and serves as a principle to guide people in power. For dialysis patients – who already face massive health disparities – it’s a promise that might go unfulfilled following a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that could open the door for health insurance companies to discriminate against them. In Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., the Court ruled [...]

I recently joined other dialysis patients in meetings with Congress to discuss the challenges we face. One of the key topics we covered was how hard it is for patients to get access to the benefits and coverage we need just to survive. Those challenges are about to get much bigger for many patients after a recent Supreme Court decision. The decision could limit benefits and make it easier for private insurers to move patients off their employer-sponsored coverage and onto Medicare before the traditional 30-month point after they are diagnosed, limiting patients’ access to benefits Medicare doesn’t cover for [...]