
Honor the Gift
Activating the community to extend Medicare coverage for kidney treatment

The Challenge
CareDx, a publicly-traded transplant diagnostics and patient management provider, saw that the transplant community needed a fresh policy champion to help improve the lives of those living with kidney transplants. They approached CURA Strategies in the fall of 2018 to develop a thought leadership campaign that would improve the lives of people living with transplants and build brand awareness and loyalty.
The Solution
9,568 letters to Congress and 8,009 pledges to honor the gift of kidney donation later, we succeeded.
Within three months, we used our Issue Prioritization Rubric to identify our issue and launched Honor the Gift, a national patient-centered campaign created and managed by CURA Strategies and supported by a coalition of kidney and transplant organizations. The goal of the campaign and coalition was to extend Medicare coverage of critical immunosuppressive medications for kidney transplant recipients, which, at the time, ended three years after someone received a transplanted kidney. For nearly two decades, advocates tried and failed to pass legislation that would address this issue.
9,568 letters to Congress and 8,009 pledges to honor the gift of kidney donation later, we succeeded. The Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act (Immuno Bill) was signed into law on December 27, 2020 and will go into effect on January 1, 2023.
To help CareDx achieve these goals, we leveraged an issue-based campaign to position the company as a leading advocate in the transplant community through the following strategies:
- Uniquely brand the efforts
- Humanize the issue and bring to life the patient perspective through storytelling
- Engage and recruit third parties to validate and support the campaign
- Build and activate a community of advocates
- Serve as the conduit to the community for influencers and media
The Results
cosponsors recruited between the House and Senate
advocates cultivated with our digital advocacy tool
clinicians support secured in support of the Immuno Bill
organizations support the initiative, including the National Kidney Foundation, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation and Donate Life America
Secured a number of national earned media placements, including in Kaiser Health News, NPR and STAT News
Relying largely on organic content, the campaign’s social media platforms have reached over 1 million people across the country
Testimonials
Awards

Public Affairs—Business Campaign of the Year AND Audience Choice Winner
Services
Strategy Development & Execution
- Issue prioritization
- Campaign development
- Stakeholder engagement
- Coalition Building
- Thought leadership positioning and training
Communications & Public Relations
- Media relations
- Social media
- Website and advocacy platform development
- Paid digital media
- Virtual and in-person event support
Government Relations & Public Affairs
- Legislative strategy
- Grassroots activation
Creative & Branding
- Branding & messaging
- Multimedia production
- Graphic design