*Rev. Al Sharpton has joined forces with singer Al B. Sure! and controversial former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to pressure the Biden administration to reverse Medicare cutbacks.
Sharpton and Sure recently launched the Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition (HETC) to call for the rollback of coverage for blood tests that help detect early signs of organ rejection in organ transplant recipients, Fox News reports.
Al B. Sure! was personally affected by the medicare cutbacks after receiving a life-saving liver transplant in 2022, according to the outlet.
“This transplantation community is a community that has no prejudice because, you know, liver disease and things of that nature, or heart disease and kidney disease, there’s no prejudice,” Al B, executive chairman of HETC, told Fox News Digital.
“This is not about politics,” the singer noted.
“We have to reverse this decision,” Al B said. “Joe Biden does have the power to reverse this. So we are asking everyone to come together in unison, to put forth an effort just to hone in and focus on listening.”
The musician continued, “I think starting with 2017, reaffirmed in 2021, Medicare provided coverage for these blood tests, and then they made the decision in three weeks or something of that nature. They need to bring the coverage back.”
Al B! added, “… we really don’t think that it’s appropriate that a private company can come along and make a decision such as that which affects so many loves.”
Both Sharpton and Al B Sure! have welcomed support from Newt Gingrich for the restoration of Medicare coverage for surveillance blood tests without ties to possible biopsies.
Gingrich, who served as the 50th speaker of the House from 1995 to 1998, said he witnessed firsthand how the decision can impact individuals who have had transplants.
“I have a brother and a sister who both had lung transplants. I have a sister-in-law who had a liver transplant,” Gingrich told Fox News Digital. “So I know firsthand the complexities and the importance of constant monitoring. All three of them, thank God, are doing very, very well,” he said. “The ability to monitor and catch any problems very, very early is important both to the health of the patient, but is also dramatically less expensive than having something start to go really bad and having to have a significant intervention.”
In a statement, Sharpton said, “Black, Hispanic, Latino and underserved communities were given a lifeline with these non-invasive tests. That was taken away in March 2023, when a private company decided Medicare would no longer cover this life-saving measure for transplant recipients, who overwhelmingly come from these communities.
He added, “It’s time we reverse this decision and allow transplant recipients to have access to more and better tools – not less.”
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