Don't cut more funding for dialysis treatment

The caregiving team at DaVita Bakersfield Dialysis Center was honored to welcome Rep. Kevin McCarthy's staff representative, Vince Fong, to our facility last month. Our caregivers and our patients welcomed the opportunity to speak with him about the importance of quality dialysis care and the need to prevent any additional cuts to the Medicare End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) benefit that allows us to provide life-saving care to our patients.

As a facility administrator of the largest dialysis facility in the U.S. who oversees the care of more than 440 patients who rely on quality dialysis care due to kidney failure, I am very familiar with the medical and financial issues my patients face every day.

My priority is to provide the best quality care to my patients, but Bakersfield Dialysis Center must have the resources to do so. I hope Rep. McCarthy will remember these vulnerable patients and carefully consider all options available before enacting any further cuts to the Medicare ESRD benefit. Our patients here in Bakersfield deserve nothing less.

We want to thank Vince Fong for taking the time to visit our facility to better understand kidney dialysis and hear from these vulnerable patients who require our care to survive.

Marc Cameron

Bakersfield

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