Safeguard dialysis care from funding cuts
Cincinnati
As a nurse at DaVita, I’m fortunate to be able to care for patients in Fairfield who suffer from kidney failure. Kidney failure is a uniquely devastating illness because patients must either receive a kidney transplant â€" which are rare â€" or undergo dialysis three times per week for the rest of their lives. Dialysis is a process which cleanses the blood of toxins when the kidneys can’t, and is the only option for hundreds of thousands of American patients, including the 50 we treat.
Because of the frequency of the dialysis treatments â€" which usually last several hours at a time â€" my patients are like family. Thankfully, Medicare covers the cost of care for all dialysis patients, and for a very low cost, we provide them with dialysis services as well as nursing, necessary drugs, lab services, nutritional support and more.
Unfortunately, in the coming months our practice might begin to struggle with the ability to continue providing this level of care. When Congress failed to reach a budget agreement last year, they put into place plans for automatic across-the-board spending cuts, including more than $100 billion in potential cuts to Medicare. Any cuts to dialysis care will unquestionably affect our patients, who simply can’t afford to have their care compromised.
I hope Enquirer readers will join me in encouraging our members of Congress to safeguard dialysis care from any funding cuts. Dialysis is simply too important to compromise.
Sarah Waits
Middletown
Story source
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
As a nurse at DaVita, I’m fortunate to be able to care for patients in Fairfield who suffer from kidney failure. Kidney failure is a uniquely devastating illness because patients must either receive a kidney transplant â€" which are rare â€" or undergo dialysis three times per week for the rest of their lives. Dialysis is a process which cleanses the blood of toxins when the kidneys can’t, and is the only option for hundreds of thousands of American patients, including the 50 we treat.
Because of the frequency of the dialysis treatments â€" which usually last several hours at a time â€" my patients are like family. Thankfully, Medicare covers the cost of care for all dialysis patients, and for a very low cost, we provide them with dialysis services as well as nursing, necessary drugs, lab services, nutritional support and more.
Unfortunately, in the coming months our practice might begin to struggle with the ability to continue providing this level of care. When Congress failed to reach a budget agreement last year, they put into place plans for automatic across-the-board spending cuts, including more than $100 billion in potential cuts to Medicare. Any cuts to dialysis care will unquestionably affect our patients, who simply can’t afford to have their care compromised.
I hope Enquirer readers will join me in encouraging our members of Congress to safeguard dialysis care from any funding cuts. Dialysis is simply too important to compromise.
Sarah Waits
Middletown
Story source
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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