Policy and Politics News

LAS VEGAS — The CMS End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices model was designed to offer optimal care while cutting Medicare expenses, but policy may not always have the intended effect, according to a speaker.

An aging population with more chronic metabolic disorders, an aging nursing workforce and a dearth of nephrology fellows may signal a continued decrease in the nephrology workforce, according to Healio | Nephrology News & Issues sources.

It is going to be impossible for me to describe accurately the horror that unfolded on those first few days of Hurricane Helene. I can describe what we went through, but the recovery process continues even today, 3 months later.

Extreme weather and climate disasters pose particular dangers for patients with chronic kidney disease who are dependent on dialysis.

Pediatric nephrology is facing a looming workforce shortage. Concern initially developed within the community via anecdotal evidence and water cooler conversations at national meetings. More recently, alarm has heightened substantially due to the advent of more objective data.

Access to kidney transplants increased for undocumented immigrants in Illinois, Minnesota and Massachusetts following state policy changes from 2013 to 2023, data show.

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which struck the Caribbean in September 2017, the American Society of Nephrology was asked to provide logistical support to kidney care providers and patients with kidney diseases.

The National Kidney Foundation published a consensus document that advocates transition to race-free eGFR equations in health-related decision-making.

Greater access to community health centers may improve outcomes for Medicaid recipients and adults without insurance who have end-stage kidney disease, data show. Amid systematic barriers in health care, “nephrology is unique in that U.S. federal health insurance, Medicare, covers most patients with ESKD irrespective of age or income,” Yoshio N. Hall, MD, MS, academic professor of medicine in nephrology at the University of Washington Kidney Research Institute in Seattle, told Healio. “However, this near-universal coverage does not extend to patients with non-dialysis-dependent kidney disease. As such, most nephrology practices in the U.S. continue to focus their care on patients who require maintenance dialysis."