Life on dialysis is hard. It involves several hours-long treatments every week and puts a major strain on everyone involved. It’s a frustrating process that I wouldn’t have been able to get through without my family.

The last thing you want to worry about while going through dialysis is the cost. The treatments already weigh on patients and families both physically and mentally, and no dialysis patient should be forced to fear they will be priced out of life-saving care.

That is why it is so important that lawmakers in Washington rally behind the Jack Reynolds Memorial Medigap Expansion Act, a bipartisan bill that will expand coverage for the costs that Medicare traditionally doesn’t cover to all patients with End-Stage Renal Disease under 65. It would be a major step toward ensuring no patient has to go without critical treatments.

This bill is, in a lot of ways, like its namesake. Jack Reynolds was a lifelong advocate for the kidney community, and he wanted everyone to have access to dialysis. He was a good man who devoted his life to helping others and ensuring patients could lead fulfilling lives while on dialysis. It’s a legacy that Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, as well as Sen. Chris Coons and Sen. Tom Carper, can honor by helping to pass this crucial legislation.

– Tracy Woodson, Wilmington