Policy and Politics News

John Doe begins dialysis at a clinic. He is 63 years old. He sits next to Simon Doe, his brother, who is 75 and started dialysis a week earlier.

Find articles related to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program, including proposed rules, comments, and analysis. Read articles about this topic. 

One thing became abundantly clear after sifting through the 490 comments on the 2016 proposed rule for the ESRD payment system and Quality Incentive Program: the renal community does not think home hemodialysis training is adequately reimbursed.

Many organizations commented on the 2016 proposed rule for the Ends-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System and the Quality Incentive Program. Click on an organization to download their comments.

The National Renal Administrators Association has expressed concern over the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposal to group multiple biosimilars for the same reference product under the same J-code for Medicare reimbursement purposes. The NRAA sent a letter to CMS Aug. 10, asking the agency to drop the provision in the proposed 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, and assign biosimilars a unique and permanent J-Code.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service has extended the End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program Preview Period for payment year 2016 to 5:00 pm EDT Monday, Aug. 31, 2015, according to the Northwest Renal Network. The 2016 payments will be data based on how dialysis facilities performed throughout calendar year 2014. The preview period is an opportunity for dialysis facilities to review their QIP scores and ask questions before the scores are finalized.

July 30 marked the 50th anniversary of the Medicare program. In 1965, it was president Lyndon Johnson's vision to help build “The Great Society,” partly by providing older and poor Americans affordable health care.

Editor's note: We posed a series of questions to two members of the Fresenius Medical Care Disaster Team that responded to Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago: Bill Numbers, senior vice president of Operations Shared Services, and Bob Loeper, vice president of Fresenius Medical Services’ Strategic Project Management.

The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) has warned the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that it needs to follow federal guidelines and the regulatory process for the creation and implementation of its five star rating programs. The CRE provides Congress with independent analyses of agency regulations, and is a clearinghouse for methods to improve the federal regulatory process.

Dialysis staff, including physicians, are not consistently following universal infection control precautions—washing hands between patients and changing gloves as needed.