TAMPA, Fla.—The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) is kicking off its Annual Patient Meet with the 2nd Annual AAKP Public Policy Forum. The forum is titled Health Reform and Its Effect on Those with Kidney Disease. AAKP is streaming the forum on its website, Friday, August 10.
The AAKP Public Policy Forum is being held at The Carter Center in Atlanta. Guest speakers include John Rother, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care; Julie Barnes, director of health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC); and Douglas Johnson, MD, vice chairman of Dialysis Clinic Inc. (DCI), a non-profit medical corporation.
Speakers will discuss and debate the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect patients, health care providers and employers. Kidney disease is the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. and affects more than 26 million people. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is the only chronic illness covered by Medicare.
The AAKP Public Policy Forum is a lively, interactive public policy forum which allows patients and family members to hear directly from policy makers about how health care reform will affect their lives. The event is free, open to the public and a boxed lunch will be provided. For individuals who are not able to attend the live event, the forum will be shown live.
Following the AAKP Public Policy Forum at The Carter Center, we will begin the 2012 Annual Patient Meeting at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead. The AAKP Annual Patient Meeting is the largest event of its kind, bringing together kidney patients, family members and renal health care professional for learning, networking and fun.
The event is divided into three educational tracks to allow participants to design their own meeting experience. The educational tracks include: Chronic Kidney Disease/Pre-Dialysis, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)/Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation. More information on the AAKP Annual Patient Meeting can be found at www.aakp.org/events/Convention.
