Top business and economy news from Burundi
Provided by AGP
American Kidney Fund and AKF Ambassadors on Capitol Hill for Annual AKF Kidney Action Summit
Together they are advocating for legislation to protect living organ donors and access to healthcare
ROCKVILLE, Md., May 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thirty-five American Kidney Fund (AKF) Ambassadors from more than 20 states are joining AKF on Capitol Hill today to advocate for legislation important to the kidney community. Comprised of people living with kidney disease, caregivers and living kidney donors, the group of AKF Ambassadors will meet with lawmakers to urge them to support the Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 (S. 1552/H.R. 4583 and H.R. 4582) and the Kidney Care Access Protection Act (S. 2730/H.R. 6214).
“The kidney community needs lawmakers to hear their voices and consider the impact of legislative and policy decisions on the people living with this chronic illness,” said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF President and CEO. “We are honored to facilitate these meetings, to put a face to the statistics, and to ensure that elected officials are hearing from their constituents about issues that matter to them.”
AKF Ambassadors will ask members of Congress to cosponsor the Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 (S.1552), which would prevent insurers from denying or canceling coverage, refusing to issue coverage, changing the price of coverage, or otherwise modifying any aspect of a life, disability or long-term care insurance policy for someone solely because they are a living organ donor. The legislation would also codify a Department of Labor opinion letter from 2018 which states that organ donation is protected under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This would then mandate that living organ donors have FMLA protections so they can take time off work to donate a kidney and recover from the surgery without fear of losing their job. The related bills in the U.S. House are H.R. 4582 and H.R. 4583.
“I’m attending so that I can be seen and heard,” said AKF Ambassador Ashli Littleton, who lives in Clarksville, Tennessee and is attending the Kidney Action Summit for the first time. “We have to be at the table, so that those laws are getting made with an actual person in mind and not just this imaginary patient. A real patient.”
Additionally, AKF Ambassadors will urge elected officials to support the Kidney Care Access Protection Act (S. 2730/H.R. 6214), which takes steps to improve and protect dialysis patients' access to innovative therapies and high-quality kidney healthcare. This bipartisan legislation would establish a long-term, sustainable Medicare payment pathway for innovative drugs, devices and technologies and implement a process that would accurately account for increased labor costs, helping to ensure the consistent availability of essential services to dialysis patients.
“I want to be able to be in rooms where real conversations are happening about policy, access, education and the future of kidney care. I believe lived experience belongs at those tables,” said another first-time attendee, Cameron Lillie-Liberto from Oxnard, California. “At the same time, I’m also eager to learn, to better understand how change is made at a legislative level so I can advocate more effectively, not just for myself, but for the entire kidney community.”
AKF is grateful to the following corporate members whose support made this year’s Kidney Action Summit possible: Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Ardelyx, Inc., argenx US, Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Bayer U.S. LLC, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Calliditas Therapeutics AB, CSL Vifor, GSK plc, Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Pfizer Inc., Sanofi, Sobi, Inc., Spherix Global Insights, Travere Therapeutics, Inc., Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Viatris Inc.
###
About the American Kidney Fund
The American Kidney Fund (AKF) fights kidney disease on all fronts as the nonprofit with the greatest direct impact on people with kidney disease. AKF works on behalf of the 1 in 7 Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, with an unmatched scope of programs that support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease — from prevention through transplant. AKF fights for kidney health for all through programs that address early detection, disease management, financial assistance, clinical research, innovation and advocacy. AKF is one of the nation’s top-rated nonprofits, investing 96 cents of every donated dollar in programs, and it has received 24 consecutive 4-Star ratings from Charity Navigator as well as the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, formerly known as GuideStar.
For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Nancy Gregory American Kidney Fund (240) 292-7077 ngregory@kidneyfund.org
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
