The American Kidney Fund (AKF) does what no other nonprofit does—we provide the financial safety net for our nation’s dialysis patients, helping people cope with an extremely challenging, life-threatening condition—while also working to prevent new cases of kidney disease. Nearly half a million people in this country have kidney failure and rely on dialysis to survive. We’re dedicated to ensuring that every patient has access to health care, and that every person at risk for kidney disease is empowered to prevent it. It’s important to have the accurate facts about our program. The American Kidney Fund was created almost 50 years ago to address the uniquely challenging circumstances facing dialysis patients. Kidney failure is a life-changing disease that forces patients into dialysis treatment three times a week and often robs them of their ability to work and to lead the kind of productive lives they and their loved ones want. For the nearly 100,000 patients who turn to AKF each year, our advocacy and support stand between them and financial ruin. Surely these patients deserve that. The need for financial support for low-income dialysis patients is real Helping people get transplant is a big part of what we do Commercial insurance is an important option There are limitations to Medicare and Medicaid coverage Our grants are needs-based—period We follow strict federal guidelines in our program The federal government has outlined standards, which include strict firewalls that separate donations to AKF from all determinations of patient eligibility for assistance, and we operate HIPP in alignment with these standards. This ensures that patients are free to change their health care providers at any time without losing access to our grants.