Last year, we helped more than 1 out of every 5 dialysis patients in the United States....

Thanks to the generosity of many Americans who care about their friends and neighbors with kidney disease, in 2009 the American Kidney Fund provided nearly $155 million in treatment-related financial assistance to more than 87,000 dialysis patients nationwide.

We helped tens of thousands of dialysis patients in 2009:

• More than 50,000 dialysis patients maintained their health insurance coverage through our Health Insurance Premium Program;
• More than 34,000 dialysis patients received our help to pay for other treatment necessities, such as transportation to dialysis, medication co-pays, nutritional products and emergency assistance;
• More than 2,200 dialysis patients received our assistance to pay for their prescription bone care medications under Medicare Part D.

We also raised kidney disease awareness in 2009:

• More than 7,200 individuals received a free kidney disease screening in cities nationwide, including Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D.C., and our public awareness campaigns generated nearly 5 million media impressions in those cities.
• We distributed more than 1.8 million health education brochures, fact sheets, and health information wallet cards.
• More than 200,000 people received a health information wallet card, providing important information about key health measures.
• Thousands of people e-mailed or called our HelpLine (866-300-2900) to ask questions about kidney health.