DPC Mourns Loss

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the unexpected passing of Micah Naftalin on December 23, 2009.  Micah was one of the founding members of the DPC Board of Directors, and his continued involvement and contributions to DPC were inspirational and will be deeply missed.  As an End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patient, Micah was dedicated to expanding the outreach of DPC and knew the trials dialysis patients face first hand.  

As Micah stated,“We need to make sure that our community of patients is not lost in the noise."

Among other achievements, Micah was a prominent leader in the fight for the religious and human rights of Jews in the former Soviet Union.  Beginning in 1987, Micah served as the National Director of the Union of Council of Jews in the former Soviet Union.  The Union of Councils is the largest independent grassroots organization advocating for Jews and human rights in the former Soviet Union.  In his role as National Director, he served as a liaison to the White House and Congress and represented the United States in numerous international conventions on human rights. 

Previous to his leadership and prominence at the Union of Councils, Micah practiced as a lawyer; served as a Congressional Aide to Congressman Carl Elliot of Alabama; held title of Chief Council for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Government Research; and worked as a Senior Policy Analyst for the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineers, and the National Research Council. Additionally, Micah was appointed to Deputy Director of the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Council where he aided in the early development of Washington DC’s Holocaust Museum.

During his lifetime, Micah positively affected so many people with his passion and outreach as an advocate.   Micah will be dearly missed as a member of the DPC family, and we express our most heartfelt condolences to his friends and families. 

Health Care Update

Just before heading home for the holidays, the U.S. Senate voted on December 24 to approve health care reform legislation. The week before this vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a 383-page “Manager’s Amendment” to the bill which included a variety of new policy provisions based on ongoing discussions within the Senate. Some of these new policies included the removal of a government insurance plan (called the “public option”) and new requirements for insurers, including that they impose no annual or lifetime coverage limits.

With these changes, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has extimated the Senate Bill to cost $871 billion and expand health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. It will require nearly all individuals to obtain health insurance, expand Medicaid eligibility, and create health insurance exchanges with federal payment assistance to help low- and middle-income individuals purchase private coverage. To help cover the costs of this additional coverage, it includes a selection of new fees and taxes for certain sectors of the health care industry, a new tax on high-cost insurance plans, and major cuts to Medicare spending.

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World Kidney Day Countdown!

March is National Kidney Month, and March 11th is World Kidney Day (WKD).  WKD is a global health awareness campaign. The international campaign focuses on the importance of our kidneys and reducing the impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. 

During the month of March, we encourage you to participate in this important day by educating your local community about kidney disease.  Learn ways you can raise awareness and help support this important public health campaign at DPC’s dedicated WKD website www.wkdaction.org. 

The more awareness we bring to our communities the better the chance we have at reducing the number of new people afflicted with kidney failure.  You can also learn more about World Kidney Day at the global campaign’s website www.worldkidneyday.org.

Share Your New Year's Resolution

Every New Year’s Eve millions of people resolve to accomplish a goal in the upcoming year.  Often these resolutions involve weight loss or achieving better health.  Others may resolve to improve their financial situation by finding a new job or saving more.  Whatever your resolution may be for 2010, one of the first steps towards achieving your goal is to share it with your family and friends who can help encourage you to achieve your goal. 

DPC would also like you to share your resolution with our kidney community.  Throughout the month of January, we will select a few resolutions each week to post on the website, so make sure to come back and check to see if your resolution was posted and to read what other people like you are resolving to do in 2010!

Share your resolutions!