By Lauren Drew, NKF Director of Congressional Relations March means signs of spring, filling out college basketball brackets, and if you are a congressional staffer, fielding a TON of appropriations requests as budgets for the coming fiscal year are being written. It’s a multi-step process that can take months, but as participants in our recent Virtual Kidney Patient Summit know, now is the time to be making your ask! This year, NKF is making a major push to increase federal government funding for kidney disease research, public awareness, and early detection programs, particularly given that ..read more

On March 2nd, more than 230 advocates from 43 states representing the National Kidney Foundation and five other kidney organizations met virtually with 243 legislators and their health policy staff. Their stories and experiences have already had an impact as legislators have begun to declare their support for the priorities of the kidney community. We also thank the hundreds of people who wrote to Congress in support of their fellow kidney advocates, telling Congress in one voice that kidney health policy needs reform! Advocates also had the opportunity to hear from Debbie Allen during that e ..read more

More than 230 kidney patients, living kidney donors, and care partners will meet virtually with their Members of Congress this Tuesday, March 2nd as part of the National Kidney Foundation’s largest Kidney Patient Summit to date. This year we are once again thrilled to be joined by our kidney community partners including the Alport Syndrome Foundation, Home Dialyzors United, IGA Nephropathy Foundation of America, Nephcure Kidney International, and PKD Foundation. Advocates Participating in the 2020 Kidney Patient Summit Last year, advocacy by many of these same patients led directly to passage ..read more

NKF advocates working at the state level started 2021 with a bang, as the New Jersey legislature unanimously passed its Living Donor Protection Act (LDPA) at the end of January. One of thirteen LDPAs that NKF is leading efforts to pass, it’s just one of several successes already this year. On February 4th and 22nd, the Pennsylvania and Kentucky Houses passed their own LDPAs. Since then, NKF advocates have testified on their own efforts in Connecticut and Washington. Beth, April and Rep. McPherson Testifying on February 10th in Kentucky To ensure that we’re also addressing barriers to care, NKF ..read more

By Dr. Constance Mere, M.D. Following a recent discussion with leadership at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), NKF has formally requested the agency to adopt practices that have been shown to help address the prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in communities of color. The irreversible, progressive loss of kidney function known as CKD does not discriminate. It affects people of all ages, gender and ethnicity. In contrast, kidney failure – the end result of CKD – affects ethnic minorities three to six times more often than Caucasians. Many factors are responsible ..read more

By Jim Myers, NKF patient-advocate Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is an evidence-based medical approach to treating certain chronic conditions through the use of an individually-tailored nutrition plan based on a comprehensive nutrition assessment conducted by a Registered Dietitian (RD). A physician may refer an individual to a RD for this service. The goal of Medical Nutrition Therapy is to prevent, delay or manage diseases or conditions like Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). The Best Kept Secret in Kidney Advocacy: You Can Consult With An RDN At No Cost to You If you are covered by Medicare ..read more

Following last week’s searing events on Capitol Hill, NKF is working to both support our longtime legislative champions during this challenging time and planning for the new Congress, where we’re excited to build on the kidney health victories that our advocates helped secure throughout 2020. After passage of the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2019 late last year, our eighth annual and second all-virtual Kidney Patient Summit will take place on Tuesday, March 2nd. Participants will be emphasizing the importance of continuing to make policy s ..read more

With Thanksgiving upon us, we wish you all a happy and safe holiday! We also want to express how thankful we are at the National Kidney Foundation for you, and for all of our many amazing advocates who work tirelessly to improve kidney disease policy with their lawmakers in Congress, with government agencies and in state capitals across the nation.  Since the start of 2020, NKF advocates nationwide have taken action more than 26,000 times, and as a result sent more than 41,700 messages to their federal and state representatives.  By sending letters and e-mai ..read more

By Matthew Fitting, NKF Director of Grassroots Advocacy With federal lawmakers returning to Washington post-election, the next few weeks are their last opportunity to pass legislation ahead of a new year and new Congress. With more co-sponsors in the House and Senate than ever before, we’re working to make sure representatives understand that our bill extending immunosuppressive drug coverage needs to be a top priority. Kidney patients and those that care for them can’t keep waiting – we need this bill passed before they end this Congress. So we’re asking congressional lawmakers who are alread ..read more

Medicare Open Enrollment season is here and runs through December 7th. Just as in past years, open enrollment is a time for people enrolled in Medicare to change their Medicare Part D (prescription drug plan). A new change this year also allows people on dialysis or living with a kidney transplant who are eligible for Medicare to choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan (managed care plan) instead of traditional Medicare if they wish.   Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are offered by private insurance companies ..read more