Dialysis Patient Citizens News
DPC Thanks South Carolina Senator for his Support in Extending Medigap Coverage to Medicare Patients
The Honorable Harvey S. Peeler Jr. 213 Gressette Building Columbia, SC 29201 Dear Senator Peeler, As the nation’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works to improve the quality of life for all dialysis patients through education and advocacy. On behalf of our membership, and particularly on behalf of the over 7,800 dialysis patients in South Carolina, we are writing today to thank you for introducing legislation to extend Medigap coverage to Medicare patients under the age of 65 with disabilities or end [...]
Snapshots from our World Kidney Day Advocacy Event
By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs For World Kidney Day, more than 75 dialysis community advocates traveled to Washington, DC to raise awareness about kidney disease issues on Capitol Hill. Check out some great photos from the three-day event below. DPC Executive Director Hrant Jamgochian opens up the Issue Briefing at the Advocacy Day Training Session Jean Moody-Williams, Director of the Quality Improvement Group at CMS, discusses quality improvement strategies for the Medicare ESRD Program. Dialysis community advocates strategize with Capitol Hill group members. Advocates get [...]
Dialysis Advocates Praise Introduction of Kidney Transplant Drug Access Legislation
Urge Support for the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (Washington, DC) – In honor of National Kidney Month, dialysis patient advocates praised the introduction of the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (S.323/H.R. 1325). This vital legislation will extend anti-rejection drug coverage for kidney transplant patients under the age of 65 beyond the current three year period. The bill would ensure transplant patients receive the necessary medications to maximize the life of the donated organ while using [...]
Congressional Corner: Two Transplant Bills Introduced in Congress
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Recently, two bills relating to kidney and organ transplants have been introduced in Congress. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi introduced the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2013 (S. 323) in the Senate, and Congressman Michael Burgess and Congressman Ron Kind introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1325) in the House. If passed, these bills will extend Medicare immunosuppressive drug coverage for kidney transplant patients under 65 years old [...]
Update: Dialysis Care Coordination Moves Forward!
By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs As I highlighted last fall, DPC has been busy working with other kidney community organizations and the federal government on a new and improved way to provide care to dialysis patients. As part of recent health care reform efforts, Medicare has been developing new ways to coordinate care for various patient groups and they just came out with their dialysis specific program! Medicare, or more specifically the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), released the official blueprint for this new [...]
DPC Highlights CMS Proposed Rule Including Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs
Via Electronic Submission Acting Administrator Tavenner Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services P.O. Box 8016 Baltimore, MD 21244 Re: CMS-2334-P: Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Programs, and Exchanges: Essential Health Benefits in Alternative Benefit Plans, Eligibility Notices, Fair Hearing and Appeal Processes for Medicaid and Exchange Eligibility Appeals and Other Provisions Related to Eligibility and Enrollment for Exchanges, Medicaid and CHIP, and Medicaid Premiums and Cost Sharing Dear Acting Administrator Tavenner: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the [...]
Congressional Corner: February 2013
By Carrie L. Director of Congressional and State Relations As it has been mentioned in previous blog posts, World Kidney Day is a great opportunity to get out in the community and raise awareness about kidney disease. For us here at the DPC office, this means inviting some of our most active Patient Ambassadors from around the country to join us in the nation’s capital. On World Kidney Day, the Patient Ambassadors will meet with their Members of Congress to talk with them about the policy issues [...]
From the Welcome Desk At DPC: Who Are You Going to Call? Hint Not the Ghostbusters
By Stephen C., Policy Assistant Hello all! This week I want to talk about something that I’ve been asked about quite a bit. Lots of folks have been calling me to find out how to submit complaints to their dialysis centers. Obviously, we care about patients and want to make sure that they are receiving the best possible care. But when it comes to individual patients at individual centers, we just don’t have the resources to get involved in every case at the local level. If you have [...]
Dash of Sage: World Kidney Day is Rapidly Approaching
By Sage B., Grassroots Manager This week I am working on World Kidney Day (WKD) materials to help people organize events, contact their lawmakers and educate the public on issues that dialysis patients face. And it reminds me of an old story from my former life as a domestic violence advocate: In the 1970’s the domestic abuse movement was basically made up of private citizens who were willing to open their homes to victims of domestic abuse. Unfortunately, aside from these very brave individuals, domestic abuse was still [...]
Inside the Intern’s Mind: Introduction
Megan Sturman By Megan S., Education Intern Hello everyone! My name is Megan Sturman, and I am excited to announce that I am the new education intern here at The DPC Education Center (The Center)! I grew up in Waldorf, MD., a small city just outside of Washington, D.C. I will be graduating this May, from Salisbury University earning my B.S. in Public Health with a minor in Sociology. One of the reasons I decided to pursue a degree in public health was because I [...]
DPC Comments on Medicaid Advantage Drive Times
January 24, 2013 Jonathan Blum Deputy Administrator and Director for the Center of Medicare Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Room 314G 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 Re: Medicaid Advantage Drive Times for ESRD Patients Dear Mr. Blum: On behalf of more than 24,000 Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) members and over 400,000 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients currently on dialysis, thank you for your leadership at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As the nation’s largest patient-led organization [...]
From the Welcome Desk at DPC: January Edition
By Stephen C., Policy Assistant Hello all! This week, I wanted to let you know about an exciting opportunity that I can help you out with. As you hopefully already know, World Kidney Day is coming up on March 14th. You might ask, “What is World Kidney Day?” To give you the general idea, here is its stated mission: “The mission of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney [...]
Dialysis Patient Citizens Announces Our New Sister Organization The DPC Education Center
By Tony B., Director of Research and Information Today we are excited to announce the creation of a new sister organization The DPC Education Center (The Center). The new organization, which is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, will work together with DPC to advance their shared mission of improving the quality of life of all kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The Center is dedicated to improving kidney patients’ quality of life and reducing the occurrence of ESRD through education and by developing awareness of [...]
Dash of Sage: Resolutions
By Sage B., Grassroots Manager Welcome to the New Year! I’m excited to say that my sneakers are no longer decorative objects in my closet. Instead, they are decorating my entry hall- hmmm enough about me! My other resolution is to ensure that Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) remains responsive to its members. And on that front, I’m making a bit more headway. As you may know, one of DPC’s core programs is the Patient Ambassador program. In this program DPC provides support to Ambassadors as they advocate for [...]
Congressional Corner: Over the Cliff – Then Quickly Back Up Again
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Well, we went over the fiscal cliff. And then, just hours later a deal was struck, a few hours late but a deal to bring us back from the brink nonetheless. The 112th Congress concluded its tumultuous, and gridlocked 2 years by passing a deal to avoid massive tax hikes for the middle class and a 27% decrease in payments to Medicare providers on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, cuts to the Medicare ESRD program were still included in the [...]