July 30, 2025
Today marks Medicare's 60th anniversary, a program that has revolutionized American healthcare since 1965. For people with kidney disease, Medicare isn't just healthcare coverage — it's the difference between life and death.
This milestone offers a perfect moment to reflect on Medicare's transformative impact on kidney care. More importantly, it's a call to action to protect this lifeline for current and future generations facing kidney disease.
The bottom line is that Medicare covers 90% of Americans on dialysis and remains the backbone of kidney care in America. We must fight to preserve and strengthen it.
Medicare's Revolutionary Promise to Kidney Patients
Throughout the late 1960s, NKF leadership testified and met with Members of Congress on multiple occasions to build support for coverage of kidney failure therapy.
In 1972, Congress made an unprecedented decision to extend Medicare coverage to nearly all Americans with kidney failure, regardless of age.
This wasn't just policy — it was recognition of a moral truth. No one should face a choice between bankruptcy and life-saving dialysis treatment.
The numbers tell the story: Medicare now covers approximately 90% of Americans receiving dialysis, making it the single largest payer for kidney care nationwide.
How Medicare Transforms Lives for 800,000+ Americans
For more than 800,000 Americans living with kidney failure and tens of millions with chronic kidney disease (CKD), Medicare provides comprehensive, life-sustaining coverage:
- Dialysis Access: Medicare pays for dialysis treatments at home or in-center, enabling patients to manage their disease and maintain their daily lives.
- Transplant Support: Complete coverage for kidney transplant surgery, post-transplant care, and immunosuppressive medications that prevent rejection.
- Innovation Engine: Medicare data powers critical research and quality improvement efforts, helping reduce disparities and improve outcomes for all kidney patients.
Without Medicare, these treatments would remain unaffordable for most families. A year of dialysis can cost over $90,000 — far beyond what most Americans could pay out-of-pocket.
5 Ways To Strengthen Medicare for Kidney Patients
As we celebrate this anniversary, we must also confront modern challenges threatening Medicare's promise. The National Kidney Foundation advocates for these essential protections:
1. Reject Harmful Funding Cuts
Any reductions in Medicare coverage would compromise access to dialysis and transplant care, putting lives at immediate risk.
2. Invest in Prevention
Expanding preventive care coverage can slow CKD progression, saving lives and reducing long-term costs for Medicare and families.
3. Improve Data Collection
Medicare must continue collecting comprehensive demographic and clinical data — including race, ethnicity, and treatment options — to identify disparities and improve care delivery.
4. Expand Treatment Options
Increase access to home dialysis and transplant opportunities, especially in underserved communities where options remain limited.
5. Support Innovation
Ensure Medicare policies encourage, rather than hinder, breakthrough treatments and technologies that improve patient outcomes.
Your Voice Matters: How to Protect Medicare
Medicare represents more than a government program — it's America's promise to its most vulnerable citizens. For kidney patients, it's been keeping that promise for over 50 years.
That promise faces new challenges today. Here's how you can help protect it:
- Contact Your Members of Congress: Share your story with legislators and remind them that Medicare saves lives in your community.
- Join Our Advocacy Network: Sign up to become a kidney advocate and receive updates on critical Medicare legislation and how you can help.
- Support Our Mission: Donate to the National Kidney Foundation so we can continue fighting to protect Medicare for kidney patients.
Join us in protecting this lifeline for current and future generations of kidney patients. Because when we protect Medicare, we protect hope itself.
Medicare covers 90% of Americans on dialysis, serving as the primary lifeline for kidney care.
Threats to Medicare funding directly endanger access to life-saving dialysis and transplant care.
Your advocacy can help protect and strengthen Medicare for kidney patients nationwide.
