Policy and Politics News

On June 22, Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) introduced a bill that targets key areas of reform in policies related to kidney disease.

Nine leading health care organizations have launched a campaign, referred to as Innovate Kidney Care, urging CMS to update health care provider regulations to improve home dialysis, according to a press release.

The ESRD Quality Incentive Program, launched nearly a decade ago, has done little to improve the quality of care of patients on dialysis, according to a recently published study.

Six transplant donor groups broke away from their national trade association at the start of a U.S. House-led hearing earlier this month on whether the association was lobbying against new donor performance requirements.

While patient activation is “a fairly new term in the kidney space,” a speaker argued it is now necessary for nephrology nurses to understand and improve activation and self-management for patients with kidney disease.

The American Association of Kidney Patients, American Society of Nephrology and kidney patients collaborated to pressure Congress into funding two major kidney research projects, according to a press release.

Participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, had higher caloric intake than non-participants, according to a study of patients with kidney disease, some of whom also reported food insecurity.

Arguing that “racism is a root cause of disparities in kidney disease,” a speaker here outlined the ways in which these disparities have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 8, CMS announced a delay in implementation of the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) demonstration — the new voluntary, value-based care model for nephrologists and providers introduced as part of Advancing American Kidney Health.

Today, the Biden administration announced a partnership with dialysis clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to patients and health care workers.