AKF Virtual Fly-in Advocacy Day

On July 15th, 24 AKF Ambassadors from 15 states and the District of Columbia participated in AKF's first Virtual Fly-in. These Ambassadors, which included dialysis patients, kidney transplant recipients, and living donors, had meetings via phone with the offices of their Senators and U.S. Representative to tell their stories. They also asked their Members of Congress to support the following pieces of legislation that would improve the lives of people with kidney disease and address health disparities that affect communities of color:

• H.R. 6637, Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) of 2020. This bill aims to address many of the root causes of health disparities in a number of ways, such as improving health care access and quality, and enhancing language access and culturally competent care. It contains several provisions that address kidney disease directly.
• H.R. 6561, Improving Social Determinants of Health Act of 2020. This bill would create a social determinants of health program at the CDC to focus on the social, economic and environmental conditions that affect health and well-being and are significant contributors to health disparities.
• H.R. 5534 / S. 3353, Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act. This legislation would extend Medicare coverage for immunosuppressive drugs—currently at three years for patients under 65—for the life of the transplanted kidney.

We want to express a big thank you to the Ambassadors who took the time to share their story and advocate on behalf of kidney patients—and to do it so effectively in this new virtual format. Thank you!

More information on the virtual fly-in can be found on the Advocacy blog.

AKF Urges Congress to Protect and Enhance Medicaid Coverage

The current economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of Americans losing their jobs and for many of them, their employer-sponsored health insurance. When this occurs, many people turn to Medicaid for health coverage. Medicaid is a critical source of health coverage and an important safety net for the 1 in 5 low-income individuals the program covers. By providing access to care for so many Americans, Medicaid plays a vital role in helping enrollees prevent and manage chronic conditions including chronic kidney disease and its leading causes, diabetes and high blood pressure.

However, because Medicaid is jointly financed by the federal government and state governments, and states are facing huge budget shortfalls due to the pandemic, states will have to make difficult decisions that could result in drastic cuts to their Medicaid program—just when people need it most.

AKF joined other organizations representing providers, patients, workers and insurers to ask Congress to enhance the federal government's share of Medicaid funding to protect health care access for millions of Americans who rely on the program, especially in this time of great need. We also voiced our support for S. 4108, the Coronavirus Medicaid Response Act, a bill introduced in the Senate that would increase federal support to state Medicaid programs during economic downturns and link adjustments to state unemployment levels.

More information on the importance of Medicaid funding can be found in this blog post.

You can also ask your senators and representative to support S. 4108, the Coronavirus Medicaid Response Act, by taking just two minutes to send them a message through our website. Your voice matters!