Congress remains supportive of funding innovation in kidney care
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Congress continues to support funding for developing smarter, more efficient and patient-friendly dialysis machines that simplify the treatment process, a speaker said at the virtual Innovations in Dialysis: Expediting Advances Symposium.
U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who is also co-chair of the Congressional Kidney Caucus, told attendees that $5 million in new funding has been added to the 2022 federal budget for KidneyX, a competition organized by HHS and the American Society of Nephrology to fund the design and development of new dialysis products to make therapy easier for patients.
“Over the past year and a half, the pandemic has been at the forefront of our attention, but we cannot neglect the issues that we faced before the COVID-19 crisis, and that includes chronic kidney disease,” DelBene said. “The need for greater investment in kidney care is more important now than ever ... we need to do more to support your work in Congress,” she told attendees.
DelBene said KidneyX has been “one of my top priorities.”
”Last July, the House passed legislation ... that included $5 million for KidneyX, and this year, the House included an additional $5 million for KidneyX in the House’s annual health funding bill,” she said. KidneyX funding was included in the executive budget proposal from the House for the first time, she said.
CKD screening
DelBene and members of the Kidney Caucus have also petitioned the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force, encouraging its members to advocate for kidney disease screening. “In 2012, the task force determined there was not enough data to support our recommendation,” DelBene said. “Ten years later, we are hopeful they are backing our proposed plan. Ninety percent of patients with chronic kidney disease don’t know they have it. That is why screening is so important.”
“We need to push pass the status quo in kidney care to deliver cutting-edge treatments,” DelBene said.
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DelBene S. Congressional perspective on the state of dialysis innovation. Presented at: Innovations in Dialysis: Expediting Advances Symposium; Aug. 22-24, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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