American Kidney Fund Reaches Milestone In Maintaining Health Insurance Coverage For Indigent Kidney Patients

American Kidney Fund
Wednesday, 2 October 2002

This week, as the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans who lack health insurance is increasing again after a two-year decline, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) marked a milestone in helping low-income kidney patients maintain their health insurance coverage.

AKF's Health Insurance Premium Program (HIPP) was established in 1997 to provide a safety net for 3,000 dialysis patients who were losing their health insurance due to a federal health reform law designed to provide "portability" for health insurance. Health insurance is widely viewed as the cornerstone of adequate medical care, and AKF understood the potentially devastating consequences for chronically ill patients who could lose their health coverage.

With assistance from dialysis providers and social workers, over the last five years AKF has issued more than 190,000 HIPP grants, exceeding $77 million, to financially qualified patients for Medicare Part B, Medigap, and Cobra insurance policies. Currently, more than 16,000 kidney patients are enrolled in the program. HIPP's visibility has created increased demand for AKF's other patient aid programs such as grants for transportation, pharmacy assistance, kidney donor expenses and dialysis center emergency funds.

AKF Executive Director Karen Sendelback noted, "The American Kidney Fund is justifiably proud of the vital role it's played in maintaining health insurance coverage for low-income dialysis patients. AKF stepped up to help these patients in a time of real crisis, because no other volunteer organization or government agency could. We are committed to providing HIPP services for as long as these services are required."

For more information, or to contact American Kidney Fund, see their website at: www.akfinc.org