BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Aug 13, 2013) - www.dialysisNOW.com, a patient advocacy website, launched today to build awareness and provide patients with an opportunity to urge Congress not to pass a proposed cut to funding for Medicare dialysis treatment starting in 2014. If passed, the 10 percent cuts, equalling almost $1 billion, may force dialysis facilities across the country to dramatically reduce the quality of care they provide or to shut down, causing thousands of patients to lose access to the life-saving care they currently receive.
Kidney disease is the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S. More than half a million patients today suffer from end-stage renal disease and rely on dialysis treatments to stay alive. Repeated funding cuts are unsustainable and there have been five cuts to benefits for dialysis treatment since 2011. The communities heavily affected by these reductions are always those who need it most including the elderly and minorities, worsening current healthcare disparities.
"We built dialysisNOW.com because as health care professionals we are acutely aware of the serious ramifications that these cuts pose to a very vulernable part of the U.S. population," said Dr. Salim Afshar, a practicing surgeon and founder of ClinicalBox. "The site rallies support by providing information and letter templates that allow users to easily urge their elected Representatives in Congress not to support the budget cuts."
About dialysisNOW.com
dialysisNOW.com is a web site dedicated to building awareness for proposed Medicare budget cuts that will dramatically affect the quality of care for dialysis patients. Built by healthcare practitioners concerned with the devastating ramifications of the newly proposed policy, the site makes it easy for patients, their families and physicians to speak out against the cuts before they become a reality. For more information, please visit dialysisnow.com, follow us and share our video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfGw_ekhUg8 on Twitter @dialysisnow and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dialysisNOW