Dialysis Patient Citizens News
Seasons Greetings
If you are reading this, we all survived the Mayan apocalypse or you had a well-stocked shelter with built in internet access. Either way, all of us here at DPC and with the Patient’s Voice want to wish you happy holidays. Our office will be closed until January 2nd, and new posts (hopefully sent in by Voice readers) will resume shortly after.
Congressional Corner: A Year of DPC Advocacy Successes!
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations As 2012 comes to an end, DPC has a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to. DPC staff and most importantly our members, have achieved so much this year, bringing awareness to kidney disease issues both in Congress and in their communities! Patient Ambassadors held dozens of kidney and dialysis awareness events across the country in support of World Kidney Day and other events throughout the year. Patient Ambassadors taught members of their churches and civic [...]
Dash of Sage: Introduction
An icebreaker activity at the recent board meeting. Can you tell what it is? By Sage B., Grassroots Manager Hi Voice readers! My name is Sage and I recently joined DPC as the Grassroots Manager, which means that I will work with many of you personally to influence state and national kidney disease policies. Each month I will keep you up to date on what we are doing at the local level and share inspiring stories of our patients in action. Thank you for joining me [...]
From the Welcome Desk at DPC: November
By Stephen C., Administrative Assistant Hello all! I hope everyone’s doing well and you’re all ready for a wonderful (renal-friendly) holiday season. This week, I wanted to share my experience visiting the kind folks at ESRD Network 11 in Milwaukee for their annual meeting. I had a great time talking with nurses and patients about everything we do at DPC. I think my favorite moment during the whole event was when a nurse approached our table and asked me if we were doing anything about immunosuppressant drug coverage [...]
Changes are Coming to Kidney Transplant Allocation Policies
By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs When DPC weighs in on policy proposals, we aim to speak on behalf of the people that we represent. This means that periodically we look to all of you to let us know how you feel about certain changes and how you think they will affect your care…and this is one of those times. Recently, the Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN) and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) released a proposal to change the way kidney transplants are allocated. The [...]
Congressional Corner: November, 2012 Election Results—Status Quo (sort of)
DPC staff excited to show off their voting stickers. By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Well, the seemingly endless 2012 election is over, and the result is that not much has changed in Washington. President Barack Obama has been reelected to a second 4-year term and has returned to the White House to get back to business. He immediately faces several hugely important issues including the impending fiscal cliff, a combination of drastic spending cuts, tax increases and a reduction in the [...]
Health Reform Implementation Continues at the State Level
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations I have the unenviable job of trying to make state health reform both easy to understand and interesting, but I have given it my best shot. In this article I will be discussing two topics that are important for kidney disease patients, essential health benefit benchmark plans and the formation of state-based health insurance exchanges. State governments and health reform boards have been busy over the past couple of months determining how they will deal with implementing the [...]
DPC Urges Nevada Commission of Insurance to Not Make Cuts for Patients’ Modality, Transportation, Care and Treatment
Scott J. Kipper Commissioner of Insurance State of Nevada 1818 E. College Parkway, Suite 103 Carson City, NV 89706 Dear Commissioner Kipper: As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works to improve the quality of life of all dialysis patients through education and advocacy. Today we are writing on behalf of the nearly 3,000 dialysis patients in Nevada to make sure that their health and interests are represented in the State’s essential health benefits plan. DPC is committed to improving patient health [...]
Congressional Corner: It’s An Election Year (Just in Case You Happened to Forget)!
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations 2012 is a presidential election year if you couldn’t already tell from the myriad of ads streaming across your televisions, over your radios or filling your mailbox! So much is at stake in this election, and it is important that your voice is heard! Of course, the president is up for election as you and other voters determine who will lead our country and the executive branch of the government for the next four years. Also, 33 Senate seats [...]
Congressional Corner
By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations Hi my name is Carrie and I am the Director of Congressional and State Relations at DPC. Each month I will write about what is happening in Congress related to kidney patient issues and try to keep it interesting! What is Congress up to this fall? Well while you may hear in the news that Congress isn’t doing a whole lot, which is partially true, they are actually going to be tackling some tough issues that affect all of [...]
A Recent Meeting with CMMI
By Jessica N., Director of Public Affairs Hi, my name is Jessica and I am the Director of Public Affairs for Dialysis Patient Citizens. That means I create and coordinate the communications that come out of the DPC office, including the Patient Citizen that is on its way to your mailbox. I also work with our policy team on federal initiatives that impact dialysis patients, including changes to Medicare, the “bundle” and QIP and efforts to make sure all of you can take advantage of new policies [...]
DPC Comments on the Creation of Nephrology Specific Integrated Care Pilot Projects
Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to engage in ongoing dialogue and the continuous ability to provide feedback to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) on issues related to the improvement of care for chronic disease (CKD) patients. In our July 23, 2012 letter to CMMI leadership, we proposed several initiatives to consider as integrated care projects are considered. To further enhance our earlier statements, we have included timely data from our nationwide survey of patients with [...]
DPC’s Letter to Daniel Farmer of the Stakeholder Engagement Group at CMMI
Daniel Farmer Stakeholder Engagement Group Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244 Dear Mr. Farmer: Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) appreciates the opportunity to provide ongoing feedback from the patient prospective to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) on issues related to the improvement of care for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. We applaud the mission of the department and your role in shaping healthcare through [...]
DPC Encourages New York State Office of Health Insurance Plans to Reinstate Coverage of Oral Nutritional Supplements
Dr. Jonathan Curtin, Medical Director NYS Department of Health Division of OHIP Operations Office of Health Insurance Programs 150 Broadway Albany, NY 12204 Jonathan Bick, Acting Director NYS Department of Health Division of OHIP Operations Office of Health Insurance Programs 150 Broadway Albany, NY 12204 RE: Medicaid Coverage of Enteral Nutritional Supplements Dear Dr. Curtin and Acting Director Bick, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), the nation’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, strives to improve the quality of life of all end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients through [...]
DPC Comments on MATP Co-payment
March 5, 2012 Department of Public Welfare c/o Regulations Coordinator Room 515 Health and Welfare Building Harrisburg, PA 17120 RE: Proposed Co-payment for Medical Assistance Transportation Program To Whom It May Concern: As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works to improve the quality of life for all dialysis patients through advocacy and education. We are writing today on behalf of the over 14,000 dialysis patients in Pennsylvania, specifically those who utilize the State’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP). This program provides [...]
DPC Comments on Medicare Advantage Drive Times
February 24, 2012 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: Time and Distance Criteria for Outpatient Dialysis Dear Mr. Blum: As the nation’s leading kidney disease and dialysis patient advocacy organizations, we appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the recent changes to the Time and Distance Criteria for Outpatient Dialysis. Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 Americans are [...]
DPC Urges Medicaid to Cover Nutritional Supplements for Dialysis Patients
Vivianne M. Chaumont, Director Division of Medicaid & Long-Term Care Department of Health and Human Services 301 Centennial Mall South Lincoln, NE 68509 Dear Director Chaumont: As America’s largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) works to improve the quality of life of all dialysis patients through education and advocacy. Today we are writing on behalf of the 1,442 dialysis patients in Nebraska, urging you not to eliminate Medicaid coverage of oral nutritional supplements. Many patients on dialysis utilize these supplements to help maintain [...]