Annual Advocacy Day Fly-In

On April 3, we hosted our annual Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. Twenty-seven AKF Ambassadors from 19 states and the District of Columbia gathered in our nation's capital to share with lawmakers their personal stories of living with kidney disease, and to advocate on key issues affecting kidney patients.

AKF Ambassadors had meetings with 61 congressional offices, where they discussed the importance of protecting patient access to charitable premium assistance and encouraged Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Living Donor Protection Act (H.R.1224 / S.511)

Over 8,000 messages sent to lawmakers

This year, AKF Ambassadors sent more than 8,000 action alert messages to Members of Congress and state lawmakers on a number of important issues and bills, including the Living Donor Protection Act.

Other priority topics include The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2019 (H.R.3912/S.1676), which aims to improve the lives of those with kidney disease, and the Medigap Consumer Protection Act of 2019 (H.R.1394/S.2428), which would require Medigap insurers to offer all Medigap plans to Medicare beneficiaries under the age of 65.

In addition to the legislation that has been introduced, the American Kidney Fund and our Ambassadors have also been working on two initiatives that are critical to kidney patients. We are working to introduce a bill that would lift the Medicare three-year limit on immunosuppressive drugs and to enact legislation that would end surprise medical bills.

State-level success: 37 bills signed into law

The 2019 state legislative sessions produced many positive changes for kidney patients and living organ donors.

A whopping 37 bills were signed into law in 23 states, many of which were spearheaded and passed with AKF as the primary bill proponent! These legislative measures include bills that provide job protected leave to living organ donors and bills that provide employers with a tax credit if they provide employees with paid leave to recover from living organ donation surgery.

Continuing the fight for financial assistance

AKF was engaged in fighting legislation that could have negatively impacted our ability to provide charitable premium assistance through our Health Insurance Premium Program (HIPP). Our team, along with our patients, Ambassadors and coalition members, were able to defeat two such legislative attempts in Oregon and Illinois this year.

We are still working in California to challenge AB 290 (which was signed into law in October) in the courts on behalf of our patients who live there. We held a rally in Sacramento this summer with our Ambassadors, and many Ambassadors have written letters to the editor and contacted their lawmakers personally on this important topic.

What's to come in 2020

Looking ahead, 2020 is shaping up to be another busy year.

Already lawmakers in 15 states have confirmed their intent to introduce the Living Donor Protection Act, which would provide job protected leave for living organ donors and prevent insurance companies from discriminating against them.

In Maryland and New York, lawmakers will file bills to provide reimbursement for expenses associated with living organ donation.

Oregon and Washington lawmakers will introduce bills to provide 12 weeks of paid leave for living organ donors.

In the coming months we expect many more bills to be filed in states that will establish better policies for kidney patients and living organ donors.