Policy and Politics News

The controversy over third party payers continues to heat up, and health care plans and providers are often at odds. Even though a lawsuit halted the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ interim final rule, insurance companies are still allowed to deny payments from many third parties, including the American Kidney Fund, for qualified health plans provided on the federal marketplace. Most recently, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee implemented a policy at the beginning of the year that prohibits the American Kidney Fund from paying premiums for dialysis patients who qualify under its Health Insurance Premium Program.

President Donald Trump announced on May 4 that he will nominate a former DaVita executive as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Legislation. Matthew Bassett worked for DaVita from 2006 to 2011, and left the company as Vice President of State Public Policy. Currently he serves on the board of directors for the Access Tennessee Health Insurance Pool

The National Kidney Foundation has issued a statement opposing the amended Republican American Health Care Act that has been proposed by Congressman Tom MacArthur, R-N.J.

The Judiciary Committee for the California State Senate has approved Senate bill 349, called the Dialysis Patient Safety Act, which would set patient to staff ratios for the estimated 560 freestanding dialysis clinics and 63,000 dialysis patients in the state.

The Judiciary Committee for the California State Senate is holding a hearing April 25 on a bill that would set patient to staff ratios for the estimated 560 freestanding dialysis clinics and 63,000 dialysis patients in the state.

In recognition of National Minority Health Month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) released a pair of reports detailing the quality of care received by people enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA).

As the debate over the Affordable Care Act continues, one piece of legislation is offering simple steps to address a growing health concern, the Living Donor Protection Act of 2017. The bill was introduced in the House on March 1 by Representatives Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.

On April 6, Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the CHRONIC Care Act of 2017, S. 870. The bill is an updated version of legislation Hatch introduced in December 2016 and includes a section that would expand the ability of Medicare beneficiaries on home dialysis to receive required monthly clinical assessments using telehealth, beginning in 2019.

Advocates from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP)  met with Representatives, Senators, and their respective staffs on March 30 to urge Congress to continue its historic support of research funding for the National Institutes of Health and to cosponsor and pass the Living Donor Protection Act (H.R. 1270).

A bill creating new staff-to-patient ratios for California dialysis clinics advanced out of the state Senate’s Health Committee March 29 by a 6-2 vote despite a well-organized effort by dialysis providers to kill off the proposed legislation.