More than two years ago, my colleagues at CURA Strategies set out to create a movement to address an injustice in Medicare policy for kidney transplant patients. This short-sighted policy caused donated kidneys to be rejected, cost lives, wasted Medicare money and failed to honor the selfless gift of organ donation. This issue is now dead.
Our coalition, Honor the Gift and its 32 partner organizations, organized and catalyzed the community. We wrote white papers, memos, one-pagers, congressional testimony, and op-eds. We pressed patients, advocates, clinicians, and members of Congress for their support. We petitioned our case in front of hundreds of Hill staff, White House aides, committee advisors, Representatives, and Senators. And most of all – we elevated patients and their stories to convey the perils of the ill-conceived policy.
The passage of the Immuno Bill last month marked a historic moment for kidney transplant patients. Together, we accomplished what others had once thought was unattainable.
In a year that many would soon prefer to forget, I will forever remember what a committed group of advocates accomplished when they came together in 2020 to transform the kidney transplant community for decades to come.
– Scott Leezer, Vice President of Government Relations at CURA Strategies