ZO' MOURNING LOBBIES FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM: Former NBA star joins Kidney Care Partners on Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers.
Mourning was accompanied by leadership from Kidney Care Partners, a broad-based alliance of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers, nurses and physicians groups, researchers and manufacturers working together to improve access, choice and quality of care for individuals with kidney disease and kidney failure.
While on Capitol Hill, Mourning asked lawmakers to specifically support extending the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) provision, which currently forces end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients off of their private insurance and onto Medicare after 30 months of dialysis.
"By allowing ESRD patients to stay on their preferred private insurance coverage for longer, they will be able to take advantage of helpful preventive care and health management services not offered by Medicare that can help them better manage their kidney disease and their overall health," said Mourning.
"Extending this access to employer-based insurance will also create the savings to Medicare that are needed to help patients keep their transplanted kidney and avoid a return to dialysis. So for patients and for the government, this policy just makes sense."
Mourning's advocacy efforts in Washington come on the heels of the successful passage of the "Alonzo Mourning Access to Care Act," which went into effect in Florida on October 1. The legislation, which was passed with overwhelming support in the Florida state legislature, created the opportunity for Florida's Medicare beneficiaries, including ESRD patients under the age of 65, to purchase Medigap coverage for their medical needs.
