PART D UPDATE
TRIO has been a part of Part D prescription drug grassroots efforts for many years and our membership in the Part D Coalition continues.
The Partnership is now working with Senate staff to send a letter of support to CMS from the Senate Finance Committee. This effort is promoted by Senators Grassley and Brown, two long-time champions of the transplant community. This letter will again reiterate the Committee’s support for keeping intact the coverage under Medicare Part D for the 6 protected classes.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Legislative activity continues in the progress of bills on behalf of the transplant community, donors and recipients alike. In particular, the Congress has been very supportive of new and innovative activities to increase transplantation and improve transplant outcomes.
Recently, this newsletter has highlighted the bills that have been introduced. We will continue to monitor legislative activities and progress, including informing the TRIO community of any new activities on the horizon.
TRIO AND THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR CAREGIVING PRESS RELEASE
The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) is a national organization attending to the needs of caregivers and other non-professionals, such as families, for patients with all manner of chronic or acute diseases.
In November, 2023, NAC held a press conference to announce the publication of a new report entitled “Transplant Caregivers in the U.S.: A Call for System Change”. TRIO was pleased to participate in this conference to discuss caregiver activities for transplant recipients. In addition, the report calls for significant system recommendations to improve caregiver activities and outcomes. Ike Copperman, Vice-President of TRIO, talked about his 47+ years of care partner experience, 23 years in the pre-transplant phase and then 24 years since his spouse received a simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplant in June, 1999.
For more information about this report, or to find out how to receive this report, please contact Ike at irajay2004@gmail.com.
HONOR THE GIFT
The Honor The Gift (HTG) effort continues on behalf of restoring non-invasive organ rejection blood monitoring for transplant recipients. Surveillance testing has been restored for heart and lung recipients, but is still not available in surveillance mode for kidney recipients. In addition, research in a test for liver recipients continues to be stymied since CMS tacitly approved supporting the withdrawal of non-invasive testing.
The HTG Coalition is mounting a new effort. For 3 days in December, 2023, 200 people will meet in Washington; organized into teams, the people will go through Congress meeting with Senate and House legislators and their staffs to rally their support on behalf of restoring non-invasive surveillance testing for the kidney transplant community. Please follow this column for the outcomes of these meetings.