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Are You Ready for World Kidney Day?

2024-03-29T01:12:07+00:00February 11th, 2020|Categories: Article, Take Action|

March is National Kidney Month, and World Kidney Day is March 12, 2020. Now is a great time to elevate the voice of dialysis patients by reaching out to lawmakers and advocating for people with kidney disease in your city. Below are some ways you can get involved: Become a leader in your community by joining DPC's Patient Ambassador Program. Write to your lawmaker about a bill that impacts the quality of care for people with kidney disease Schedule a facility tour with your elected officials by coordinating with your dialysis facility. Hold an event educating the public about what it’s [...]

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Action Alert – Secure Patient Access to Immunosuppressive Medications

2024-03-29T01:13:32+00:00January 12th, 2020|Categories: Access to Transplant, Article, Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage, Take Action|

The Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2019 (H.R. 5534) was recently introduced by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Michael Burgess (R-TX). This legislation would extend Medicare coverage of immunosuppressant drugs beyond the current limit of 36 months for patients who are unable to obtain health insurance coverage elsewhere. Immunosuppressive medications play a critical role in preventing transplant recipients from rejecting a donor kidney. Right now, after dialysis patients receive a transplant, if they are under the age of 65, they are only eligible to remain on Medicare for an additional 36 months. After this three-year [...]

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Medigap Coverage Gains Support in New Legislation

2024-03-29T01:13:32+00:00January 4th, 2020|Categories: Article, Medigap Coverage, Take Action|

During recent discussions on drug pricing legislation, House leadership decided to use some of the potential savings to pay for some of our priorities. One such provision would provide all dialysis patients with access to Medigap—a supplemental insurance plan which helps patients pay for the expenses not covered by Medicare. This priority was originally included in the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (S. 1676/ H.R. 3912) or “Kidney Bill.” Under Federal law, Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older are guaranteed access to Medigap policies, but beneficiaries under age 65, including many with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), [...]

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Advocacy Day Application Deadline Extended 1 Week

2024-03-29T01:13:32+00:00December 14th, 2019|Categories: Article, Get Involved, Take Action|

Good news—the deadline to apply for DPC's 2020 Advocacy Day in Washington, DC has been extended one week to Friday, December 20! We want to elevate the patient voice with policy makers with a strong and united group of advocates from all 50 states. Become a leader in your community by applying, and you could be the voice for dialysis patients with your state lawmakers in our nation’s capital.  We understand that the holidays are an especially busy time of year for many people, and we hope you will take some time in the next week to elevate the patient [...]

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DPC’s Advocacy Day Application is OPEN! Apply by December 13, 2019

2024-03-29T01:13:33+00:00November 13th, 2019|Categories: Article, Get Involved, Take Action|

DPC is pleased to invite you to apply for our 2020 Advocacy Day! We are very fortunate that we are able to bring dialysis patients to Washington, D.C. each year to meet with their elected officials. This provides advocates like you with the unique opportunity to make your voice heard on behalf of dialysis patients from your state in order to improve dialysis care. Next year is no exception. We will meet with Members of Congress and their staff on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 with a comprehensive training the day before. We received over 100 applicants for our 2019 Advocacy Day, [...]

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Meet our Newest Board Members and Get Site Visit Tips During November’s Patient Ambassador Call

2024-03-29T01:13:33+00:00October 24th, 2019|Categories: Article, Get Involved, Take Action|

Join us next month on November 14 at 2:00 pm ET for our upcoming Patient Ambassador call. We will be introducing our newest Board members and discussing strategies for scheduling a facility tour with your lawmaker. Please RSVP to let us know you can attend the call. Check out our accompanying handout for this call. Learn more about our Patient Ambassador program. Call Details are below: Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019 Time: 2:00 PM ET, 1:00 PM CT, 12:00 PM MT, 11:00 AM PT Follow these instructions at the time of the call: Call: 1-877-399-5186 Enter Meeting Code: 269 743 2061 Join Online (optional): https://dialysispatients.adobeconnect.com/patient-ambassador-call/ Thank [...]

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Donor Protection Bill Signed into Law While Care Access Bill Now in the Hands of California Governor

2024-03-29T01:13:33+00:00September 23rd, 2019|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, State Advocacy, Take Action, Transplant Donor Protection|

As temperatures cool and the California legislature winds down from a flurry of late summer activity, two bills that would impact kidney disease patients recently landed on Governor Newsom’s desk for his signature or veto. We’re thrilled that the bill seeking to increase access to transplants by strengthening protections for living organ donors was just signed into law. This bill passed unanimously in the Senate, after a similar unanimous passage in the Assembly earlier this year. DPC supports this bill because it helps remove barriers for kidney donors. Specifically, it requires employers to extend an employee’s unpaid leave up to [...]

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Action Alert – Urge Your Legislators to Help Dialysis Patients by Supporting the Kidney Bill

2024-03-29T01:13:33+00:00September 17th, 2019|Categories: Article, Medigap Coverage, Take Action|

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works hard to promote financial security as financial hardships are common for many people with end-stage renal disease. Congress has introduced a bill that would decrease the financial burden experienced by many dialysis patients and improve their access to care. The bill—known as the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2019 (S. 1676/ H.R. 3912)—would amend current law to ensure ESRD patients under the age of 65 have access to Medigap plans. Without a supplemental insurance like Medigap, Medicare patients bear significant out-of-pocket expenses for physician visits, hospital admissions, and other services [...]

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DPC’s Advocacy Day Application is NOW OPEN!

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00January 31st, 2019|Categories: Article, Take Action|

As highlighted last month, Dialysis Patient Citizens would like to reiterate our gratitude for all of your efforts to elevate the patient voice with policy makers in 2018. To say thanks, we would like to invite you to apply for our 2019 Advocacy Day! We are very fortunate that we are able to bring dialysis patients to Washington, D.C. each year to meet with their elected officials. This provides advocates like you with the unique opportunity to make your voice heard on behalf of dialysis patients from your state in order to improve dialysis care. This year is no exception. We will [...]

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Getting to Know Your Members of Congress

2024-03-29T01:13:36+00:00January 17th, 2019|Categories: Article, Take Action|

DPC Board Member Andrew Conkling with Alabama Representative Gary Palmer Part of the responsibility of advocating for your health is getting informed about and building relationships with your local lawmakers. The 2018 midterm elections brought in more than 100 new Representatives on January 3, 2019, many of whom have never held elected office. A lot of these new Members are women and minorities. Now is great time to start getting to know your local lawmakers to educate them on kidney disease and to share your story. How to Look Up Your Members of Congress Do you know your members [...]

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