Policy and Politics News

Colorado’s Medicaid program will cover the cost of outpatient dialysis for undocumented immigrants starting Feb. 1.

Medicare administrative contractor Wisconsin Physicians Services, one of seven contractors that proposed payment restrictions more than a year ago for more frequent dialysis, released revised language last month retracting the restrictions.

Government reimbursement for hemodialysis and PD is inadequate to treat all patients with ESKD in low- and middle-income countries and programs to prevent the progression of chronic kidney disease are globally underutilized, both of which have a high impact on public health expenditure, according to a study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Plans by CMS to bundle codes for vascular access procedures, set to take effect in January, have been shelved after opposition from vascular access groups and members of Congress.

Responding to opposition from the physician community, CMS has agreed to delay Medicare coding changes for evaluation and management services until 2021. If implemented by CMS for next year, as planned, an AMA analysis indicated that nephrologists could have seen a 13% drop in revenue.

CMS has approved a separate reimbursement code for the Ellipsys Vascular Access System, which is made by Avenu Medical Inc.

The National Kidney Foundation is questioning whether a new proposal by CMS to revamp Medicare Part D drug pricing might limit access to prescription drugs for some transplant patients.

Starting in 2020, CMS will start tracking the percent of prevalent dialysis patients who are placed on kidney transplant waitlists.

Dialysis clinics will see a 1.6% increase in Medicare reimbursement for dialysis treatments starting Jan. 1.

Retrophin Inc. announced the FDA will review a new drug application for a new formulation of Thiola, a tablet used in the treatment of cystinuria. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date is set for June 30, 2019, according to a company press release.