Fighting for the kidney community: What AKF and our Ambassadors accomplished in 2024

Throughout 2024, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) continued to work at the federal and state level to get legislation and policies passed that help improve the lives of those living with kidney disease and living organ donors. Our government affairs team worked tirelessly on these efforts, but we could not accomplish anything without the support and dedication of our powerful network of more than 36,000 AKF Ambassadors. 

Here are just some of our notable accomplishments from 2024.

Our AKF Ambassadors…

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  Had more than 846 meetings with Congressional and state legislative offices.

• Sent over 34,000 action alerts to state and federal legislators.
• Held 100 virtual in-district meetings with their local lawmakers' offices.
• Had 377 meetings with state lawmakers and their staff in 48 states. 
• Provided oral testimony in New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina and Washington, DC.
• Submitted written testimony in Ohio.

AKF's government affairs team…

Sent 14 comment letters to federal agencies on issues that are important to the kidney community including to:

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) about the Alternative Payment Model Updates and the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA).
• CMS about the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System (PPS) rule.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about increasing diversity in clinical trials.

AKF advocacy events

AKF hosted several important advocacy-related events in 2024, including:

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  A Capitol Hill roundtable and policy discussion to highlight the stories of people with APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD) and spread awareness of this rapidly progressive form of genetic kidney disease that impacts people of west and central African ancestry.

• Two advocacy days on Capitol Hill, connecting AKF Ambassadors with their elected officials to discuss important kidney disease legislation.
• Michigan state advocacy day to advocate for HB 4361, which provides living organ donors a one-time tax credit of up to $10,000 for nonmedical, reimbursable expenses associated with transplant surgery, including childcare. This was the first in-person state advocacy day since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The second Patient Access Initiative (PAI) Summit, which is part of AKF's ongoing work to address health care access issues faced by people with and at-risk for kidney disease.  

Bills and policy updates

In 2024, AKF was involved in the passage of 11 bills on the state level, including six biomarker bills, one Medigap bill and four living donor related bills.

On the federal level, our advocacy efforts also led to increased support and cosponsors for AKF's priority federal bills. While, unfortunately, they did not pass, we hope for introduction in the 119th Congress:

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  Honor Our Living Donors Act (H.R. 6020) which will help support living donors by ensuring that the National Living Donor Assistance Center will consider only the donor's income when evaluating whether the donor qualifies for financial assistance under the Living Organ Donor Reimbursement Program. This bill had 9 cosponsors in the House and was passed, but unfortunately did not pass the Senate. 

• The Living Donor Protection Act (S.1384 / H.R. 2923) would ensure living organ donors are protected from insurance discrimination and can take time off from work after organ donation surgery. By the end of 2024, the bill had 43 cosponsors in the Senate and 224 cosponsors in the House.
• The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2023 (H.R. 5027/ H.R. 4469) aims to improve the lives of those with kidney disease. The legislation would increase awareness of kidney disease and expand preventative services among other provisions. By the end of the year, the bill had 12 cosponsors in the House and one in the Senate. 
• The New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act of 2023 (H.R. 6790) The bill aims to improve the understanding and timely and accurate diagnosis of rare kidney diseases. H.R. 6790 had 50 cosponsors. 
• The Access to Genetic Counselors Act of 2023 (H.R. 3876/S. 2323) This bill would require Medicare to pay genetic counselors directly and had 56 cosponsors in the House and 8 in the Senate.

Get Involved in 2025

Interested in helping fight for positive change for the kidney community? There are several ways you can get involved. 

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  Join our Mobile Advocacy Network! This is a quick and easy way to stay up to date about advocacy opportunities in your state and at the federal level so you can take action on important issues. Through this tool, you can send emails and engage with your lawmakers on X and other social media platforms. Sign-up for the Mobile Advocacy Network here, or by texting "KIDNEY" to 52886.

• If you have friends and family who are interested in becoming AKF Ambassadors, please encourage them to sign up.
• If you are already an AKF Ambassador and are interested in participating in this year's Kidney Action Summit, held in early May in Washington, D.C., be sure to apply before the Feb. 22 deadline.

Thank you to all the AKF Ambassadors who worked with us in 2024 to advocate for the kidney community and helped to achieve these accomplishments. We look forward to continuing our advocacy efforts with you this year!