Policy and Politics News

In keeping with the executive order Advancing American Kidney Health, HHS has released a proposed rule intended to reduce financial barriers to living organ donation by expanding reimbursable expenses for kidney donors.

Recently published research indicates patients who are either uninsured or who receive Medicaid — referred to as being “safety-net reliant” — disproportionately receive hemodialysis at non-profit or independently owned facilities. According to Kevin F. Erickson, MD, MS, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, this is concerning because it means these patients are “particularly reliant on a group of providers that continue to decline in market share.”

HHS has released a proposed rule that sets new performance measures for organ procurement organizations in the United States.

Nephrology practices will not see much difference in outpatient dialysis payments from Medicare in 2020, but changes to the program’s merit-based incentive payment system and a change in how acute kidney injury care is covered may have an impact in 2021 and beyond, according to an analysis by the Renal Physicians Association.

Recently published findings determined that PD use increased after the implementation of the 2011 Medicare prospective payment system for dialysis, yet specific patient characteristics were associated with the likelihood of utilization.

WASHINGTON — Today, HHS Secretary Alex Azar II was presented with the American Society of Nephrology’s President’s Medal, an award that recognizes individuals who, despite not being ASN members, have helped advance the society’s mission, according to ASN President Mark E. Rosenberg, MD, FASN.

Researchers of a published study found dialysis facilities with lower ESRD Quality Incentive Program performance scores had higher rates of patient mortality.

CMS has finalized changes to the Medicare rules for the ESRD Prospective Payment System and the ESRD Quality Incentive Program, which will become effective on Jan. 1.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has released a request for application for the Kidney Care Choices model, a proposal that offers new payment incentives for nephrologists who care for patients with nondialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease in stage 4 and stage 5 and those on dialysis with ESKD.

A letter signed by 74 members of Congress and led by Kidney Caucus chair Larry Bucshon, MD, R-Ind., and co-chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., urges CMS to fix “serious design issues” in the mandatory ESRD Treatment Choices model before issuing a final rule.