Support H.R. 2969 - Extending Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Transplant Patients!

Hooray! The companion legislation for the Senate bill on extending health coverage for transplant patients has been introduced to the house by Congressman Michael Burgess (R) and Congressman Ron Kind (D): H.R. 2969. This makes it a truly bi-partisan and bi-cameral bill. So show your support and follow the bills as they move through legislation and let's hope we can get this passed!

A few choice quotes from this Flower Mound Star article on the announcement:

"Although now more mainstream than heroic, renal transplantation offers end stage renal disease patients an alternative to a lifetime of dialysis," said Burgess, who is the vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and Chairman of the Congressional Health Care Caucus. "How incredibly cruel then, that the gravest threat to their newly acquired kidney is an incoherent federal policy that denies coverage for anti-rejection drugs after 36 months and a costlier return to patients and the Medicare system to dialysis."

And from the National Kidney Foundation (for whom I'm doing a walk here in NYC on Oct. 16th. Last year I raised about $700 and met Grizz Chapman. I hope I can do that this year, too!)

"The National Kidney Foundation commends Representatives Burgess and Kind for their leadership on this critically important legislation. This bill, coupled with the companion legislation by Senators Durbin and Cochran, will ensure that thousands of Americans can keep their transplants, allow thousands more to be transplanted, and reduce the need for re-transplants of people who can no longer pay for vital medication and who end up back on dialysis and the transplant waiting list. This legislation is a major first step towards achieving the goal of the National Kidney Foundations 'End the Wait' initiative to find solutions to the organ shortage and eliminate the all-too-long wait for a transplant," said Lynda Szczech, MD, National Kidney Foundation President.

So get to supporting, everyone! We can do this!!