Advocacy

NKF Partners with Congress to Improve Health Equity

June 14, 2022, 9:46am EDT

As kidney disease continues to disproportionately affect patients of color and patients of low income, NKF is proud to partner with Members of Congress who are dedicated to changing that fact. The recently introduced Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) was drafted with input from NKF policy experts and would address many long-standing issues in our healthcare system, as well as make major strides toward addressing kidney disease, kidney failure, home dialysis, and transplantation.

A Comprehensive Plan to Address Kidney Health

HEAA takes several crucial steps, including the implementation of a national Kidney Disease Action Plan, launching a public awareness campaign in partnership with community organizations, and increasing access to staff-assisted home dialysis.

The kidney section of HEAA also includes specific research recommendations from the NKF/American Society of Nephrology Research Roundtables to improve our understanding of kidney disease in people of color and methods of including more diverse patients in clinical trials.

Additionally, HEAA calls for:

  • A comprehensive plan and report on addressing kidney disease.
  • Expanding existing kidney disease research, outreach, and treatment campaigns.
  • Empowering dialysis patients get a broader range of choice in their treatment options.
  • Ensuring would-be transplant recipients have greater transparency as they work their way through the transplant process.

Please join us in the effort to build support for HEAA by clicking here to tell your House member that this an urgently needed bill and one they should officially support without hesitation on behalf of every kidney patient that they represent in Congress.