fbpx
FacebookXYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn

Both Sides of the Aisle Agree – We Need to Help Kidney Patients

2024-06-07T15:24:50+00:00June 9th, 2021|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Innovation, Medicare Advantage, Medigap Coverage, Protect Patient Care|

On June 8, 2021, Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-MA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) re-introduced The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (S.1971), a bipartisan, bicameral bill designed to not only raise awareness of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), but also improve understanding and access to treatment for patients, which includes the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act. The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more that 1 in 7 US adults (about 37 million people) have CKD and that as many as 9 out of 10 of those adults [...]

Read More

DPC Advocates Help Push State Legislation Forward

2024-03-29T01:10:16+00:00April 20th, 2021|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Article, Medigap Coverage, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection, Uncategorized|

State legislatures are in high gear during spring, and efforts by state legislators to support dialysis patients are in full swing this month. We’ve already had several legislative victories on living organ donor protection bills, while Medigap expansion legislation for the ESRD population has been introduced in multiple states. With support from multiple DPC Patient Ambassadors and Board Members sharing their personal stories on these two policy issues, DPC is making robust arguments for states to actively help improve the quality of life for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients. Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington legislatures have already passed [...]

Read More

New Year, New Administration Brings Changes to Medicare’s Kidney Demonstration Projects

2024-03-29T01:10:16+00:00April 14th, 2021|Categories: Article, Care Coordination, Dialysis Funding, Medicare Advantage, Protect Patient Care, Quality Incentive Program|

2021 was supposed to mark the beginning of three new Medicare programs to demonstrate innovations in kidney care, but a last-minute decision from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has suspended two of them. This action unfortunately leaves about 50,000 dialysis patients with a nine-month gap in extra assistance they were receiving from a successful program that expired March 31. Here is the rundown on the current landscape of Medicare demonstration projects that impact dialysis patients. Demonstration projects are used by Medicare to test new models of care and/or new models of paying providers within Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service program. [...]

Read More

DPC Advocates Advance Dialysis Patient Issues at the State Level

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00February 19th, 2021|Categories: Advance Patient Choice, Medigap Coverage, Patient Ambassadors, Patient's Voice, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection|

Despite the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis, many state legislators recognize the added challenges faced by dialysis patients every day. Some have responded by introducing legislation to increased dialysis patient access to Medigap plans to help patients cover their 20% coinsurance expenses. Others are working to advance legislation to help increase the pool of living kidney donors. DPC would like to recognize some of the patient leaders who are elevating the patient voice by educating state legislators on the importance of these efforts. DPC Board Members Adrian Miller and Pius Charles Murray are pressing for passage of critical legislation in their [...]

Read More

State Legislatures Introduce Bills that Would Positively Impact Dialysis Patients

2024-03-29T01:12:00+00:00January 22nd, 2021|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Medigap Coverage, State Advocacy, Transplant Donor Protection|

With the start of the new year, state legislatures throughout the country are beginning their legislative sessions with a flurry of new bills being introduced on a wide-ranging number of topics. While the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact will dominate much of the activity at state houses across the country this year, we are encouraged that some of the bills already filed this session would improve health outcomes for dialysis patients. Both Arizona and Kentucky have already introduced bills to expand Medicare supplemental insurance, or Medigap. This is significant because Arizona and Kentucky are two of the 28 states that [...]

Read More

Happy Holidays and DPC’s Top Accomplishments for 2020

2024-03-29T01:12:01+00:00December 16th, 2020|Categories: About DPC, Article, Care Coordination, Legal Defense, Medicare Advantage, Medigap Coverage, State Advocacy, Take Action|

Dialysis Patient Citizens wants to wish you and your family a Happy Holiday, as well as a safe and healthy New Year. DPC offices will be closed for the holidays starting December 24 through January 1. We also want to take this opportunity to share our list of Top Accomplishments for 2020, which would not have been possible without your support. Thank you again for helping us elevate the dialysis patient voice with policy makers. We are extremely grateful for all of your advocacy efforts, and we look forward to our continued collaboration in 2021 as we work together to [...]

Read More

In Rejecting Prop 23, California Voters Protect Patient Access to Care

2024-03-29T01:12:01+00:00November 10th, 2020|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care, State Advocacy|

California voters overwhelmingly opposed Proposition 23, a statewide measure that threatened dialysis patient access to care. It was the second ballot measure in California proposed by a labor union in the last two years and the second resounding defeat for the union, and this time by an even wider margin than in 2018. DPC was part of a broad and diverse coalition that included other patient advocacy organizations, dialysis providers and caregivers, and groups representing physicians, nurses, veterans and social justice communities that opposed this harmful measure because it threatened patients’ access to care and would have increased overall health care costs [...]

Read More

DPC Opposes California Prop 23 which Threatens Patient Access to Care

2024-03-29T01:12:01+00:00October 19th, 2020|Categories: Article, State Advocacy|

Voting is already underway in several states, including California which has a statewide ballot initiative concerning dialysis patients. Proposition 23, as it is known, is another proposed ballot initiative by a labor union following a similar ballot dispute in 2018, which was defeated by a wide voter margin.  Rather than focus on profit-caps again, this initiative would impose stricter regulations on dialysis clinics. Prop 23 would require a licensed physician (or a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, if an exemption is granted because of the ongoing physician shortage) to be on-site at dialysis clinics whenever patients are dialyzing. It would [...]

Read More

Dialysis Patient Citizens Files Lawsuit Against HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma Over New Regulation That Undercuts Dialysis Patient Access to Affordable, High-Quality Care

2024-03-29T01:12:04+00:00June 22nd, 2020|Categories: Care Coordination, Legal Defense, Medicare Advantage, News, Press Release|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 22, 2020) -- Today, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in opposition to a discriminatory new federal regulation that will limit the ability of hundreds of thousands of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients to access affordable, high quality treatment. “ESRD patients successfully fought to get Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would ensure [...]

Read More

Another Dialysis Ballot Initiative Looming in California

2024-03-29T01:12:05+00:00April 28th, 2020|Categories: Article, News, Policy Issues, State Advocacy, Treatment Options|

Last week, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and United Health Workers West (UHW) submitted petition signatures for a potential ballot initiative in November. If the signatures are approved, California voters will vote on measure to dramatically increase the cost of dialysis care. The same group backed a similar measure (Proposition 8) two years ago, which voters widely rejected. DPC opposes the current ballot initiative because it adds burdensome requirements intended to drive up the cost of care for dialysis patients. One provision, in particular, would require a nephrologist to be present at all times at the dialysis facility whenever [...]

Read More
Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top