Kidney Care Partners expresses disappointment with proposed dialysis payment increase
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Key takeaways:
- The coalition of 30 organizations said the proposed 1.6% increase in the bundled payment for dialysis is inadequate.
- Dialysis companies, like other health care providers, are facing a labor crisis.
Kidney Care Partners, a coalition of 30 organizations involved in kidney care, said it was “extremely concerned” about a proposal by CMS to increase the Medicare bundled payment rate by 1.6% next year, according to a press release.
The proposed additional payment, about half of the increase that CMS agreed to pay dialysis providers in 2023, “fails to heed calls from the kidney care community for meaningful relief to address the ongoing workforce crisis,” Kidney Care Partners (KCP) said in the release.
“The lack of attention and action on these labor issues, which impact the availability of vital health care services, is dismaying and short-sighted,” KCP said. “With [end-stage renal disease] ESRD inflation-related labor costs around [4%] nationally, CMS flatly rejected calls from providers, patients and bipartisan members of Congress to provide resources necessary to keep dialysis clinics open and ensure access to care for the individuals with ESRD, who, in the rule’s preamble, CMS, itself, recognized as among the most vulnerable of all beneficiaries,” KCP said.
The 1.6% increase, if approved, would result in a new payment per treatment rate of $269.99, an increase of $4.42 more per treatment than the current 2023 base rate of $265.57.
KCP said the payment increase and other policies released in the proposed rule by CMS contribute “to significant barriers to patient access and exacerbating already existing health equity concerns. Together, these provisions widen disparities for individuals living with kidney disease or failure, who are disproportionately from communities of color,” KCP said.
The organization said the increase to the bundled payment for dialysis services, which includes most kidney drugs and lab tests, is insufficient to cover the “ongoing health care labor crisis.
“ ... Many facilities cannot hire sufficient staff needed to support individuals receiving dialysis. Reductions in treatment capacity and closures of facilities altogether are some of the grave risks presented by the proposed rule’s policy choices,” KCP said.
“It is crucial to ensure that changes in the payment system reflect the needs of the kidney care community and support the delivery of high-quality care,” John P. Butler, KCP chair, said in the release. “We urge CMS to thoroughly consider the community’s concerns and look forward to providing more specific feedback in our forthcoming comments.”
Reference:
Nation’s kidney community expresses deep disappointment with CMS proposed rules on Prospective Payment System and ESRD Quality Incentive Program. https://kidneycarepartners.org/press/nations-kidney-community-expresses-deep-disappointment-on-cms-proposed-rules-on-prospective-payment-system-and-esrd-quality-incentive-program/. Published June 28, 2023. Accessed July 5, 2023.
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