Honor the Gift Welcomes New Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition to The Fight to Restore Medicare Coverage for Transplant Patients
Honor the Gift applauds transplant recipient & musical artist Al B. Sure! and global civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton for creating the Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition, a new coalition representing underserved communities and raising the voices of Black, Hispanic, and Latino Americans, in the fight to restore Medicare coverage for transplant patients. The recent Medicare coverage cuts for organ transplant surveillance blood tests disproportionately impact Black, Hispanic and Latino Americans who together represent 40% of transplants in the U.S. — well above the 32% of the general U.S. population. Additionally, of the more than 100,000 people on the transplant list, 50% are Black, Hispanic or Latino.
Rev. Sharpton’s press release statement summarizes the injustice: “Black, Hispanic, Latino and underserved communities were given a lifeline with these non-invasive tests. That was taken away in March 2023, when a private company decided Medicare would no longer cover this life-saving measure for transplant recipients, who overwhelmingly come from these communities. It’s time we reverse this decision and allow transplant recipients to have access to more and better tools – not less.”
Al B. Sure!, the songwriter, podcast host, health and wellness ambassador who received a life-saving liver transplant in the summer of 2022, explained the patient impact: “These blood tests are especially important to transplant patients in the Black, Hispanic, Latino, and underserved transplant communities,” said Al B., “It makes no sense to take away Medicare coverage for these underserved transplant recipients who can take these blood tests at home. Rather than tying Medicare to an invasive biopsy that might require expensive travel, time off work for their patient and caregiver, and surgery in a hospital.”
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