• Congress: Each state is represented by two people (Senators) in the Senate, and one or more people (Representatives) in the House of Representatives. One person in the House represents your voting district. weKAN members can advocate for CKD-related public policy on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, or at one or more House and/or Senate state and local offices. (For more information, see www.congress.org.)

•  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
  CMS’ mission is “to en-sure effective, up-to-date health care coverage and to promote quality care for beneficiaries.” If you have specific questions or comments about a CMS program, you may look up the subject and submit your questions and/or comments to them. (For more information, see www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS/)

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): “HHS is the U.S. government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.” (For more information, see www.hhs.gov.)

At the State Level:

• State Legislature: A generic term in the United States that primarily refers to a legislative body in one of its 50 states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 24 states, the legislature is simply called the "Legislature," or the "State Legislature," while in 19 states, the legislature is called the "General Assembly." In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the "General Court," while North Dakota and Oregon designate the legislature as the "Legislative Assembly."
  
  As a legislative branch of government, a legislature generally performs the same duties for a state that the Congress performs at the Federal level, and as a general rule, the same types of checks and balances at the Federal level apply between the state legislature, the state executive officer (a governor) and the state judiciary, though the degree to which this is so varies from one state to the next. (Explanation courtesy of www.wikipedia.com.)

• State Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS): At the state level, your Department of Health and Human Services serves to protect, promote and improve the health and well-being of the citizens of its state. It administers the state’s Medicare and Medicaid (or Medical) programs and may also offer programs for things like prescription assistance, substance abuse, and early detection and treatment for chronic illnesses, diseases, and other conditions.

At the Local Level:

• Kidney organizations: Local organizations that help kidney patients, support groups, and/or local organ procurement organizations.

• Media: Local media may include cable news television channels, neighbor-hood newspapers, local affiliate offices for national television channels (e.g., ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), local radio stations, and local independent radio and television stations that offer news and commentary shows.

• Community: Fellow kidney patients, dialysis units, transplant centers, nephrology offices, health care teams, hospitals, and places of worship.
   

How Can Patients Advocate?

Ways that you, as a patient advocate, can educate yourself about issues that affect people with CKD include:

• reading the health section of your local newspaper,
• watching health reports on television,
• subscribing to health news information e-mail newsletters (a large majority of them are free),
• joining a local support group,
• attending national/local educational meetings, conferences, symposiums, health fairs, and other pertinent events,
• sharing information with members of your local kidney community,
• volunteering to assist with CKD-related programs for local organizations,
• writing letters to the editor of magazines or your national/state/local news-paper,
• submitting articles to kidney publications voicing the patient’s perspective on living with CKD,
• visiting your federal congressional representatives’ home/local office,
• visiting your state senator and/or local congressional representative at their offices in your state capital,
• scheduling for legislators to visit your local dialysis center,
• or writing to your state and local officials requesting that they declare a “Kidney Day” in his or her city, county, or state (that they issue a “proclamation”).

No matter how or where it is you choose to advocate, remember… an educated advocate is an effective advocate!