The Importance of Charitable Assistance
By Megan Beveridge , Director of Congressional Relations , Dialysis Patient Citizens
Many people are under the impression there is no bipartisan cooperation right now in Congress – and especially on health care issues . However , that is not necessarily the case . Towards the end of May , and after encouragement from Dialysis Patient Citizens ( DPC ) and other kidney groups , over 150 bipartisan Members of Congress signed onto a letter to Secretary Price urging him to protect nonprofit charities ’ ability to provide charitable assistance to kidney and other chronic disease patients . For decades , non-profit organizations have provided premium and cost sharing assistance for patients who struggle to afford staggering health care costs . This safety net has helped thousands of families each year avoid sacrificing their way of life and life savings because of medical circumstance . Currently , more than 678,000 Americans are living with kidney failure , which is known as End Stage Renal Disease ( ESRD ). Of these , approximately 477,000 require life-sustaining dialysis treatments three times a week to replace the kidney function they have lost . These treatments are time consuming and very costly so being able to use premium assistance through the American Kidney Fund is literally life-changing . For background , in December , the Obama Administration issued an Interim Final Rule ( IFR ) that would have allowed insurance companies to deny patients who were paying their premiums with charitable assistance – they basically could have discriminated against kidney disease patients and refused to cover them . Because of the harmful and disproportionate impact this would have had on kidney disease patients , DPC filed a lawsuit to block this rule in the U . S . District Court for the Eastern District of Texas – and we won . In the ruling , the Court found that “ Congress has long recognized the importance of dialysis treatment for ESRD patients and has afforded patients the opportunity to elect coverage that best
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