Policy and Politics News

Being able to interpret the alphabet soup of health care policy related to kidney care is daunting for experienced clinicians.

U.S. House Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., have re-introduced The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act.

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement Transplantation Network Act. The bill increases transparency and competition in the transplant system, according to a press release.

Payments to nephrologists will likely go down by 1% or stay the same under the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2024, according to an analysis by the Renal Physicians Association.

Buckeye Transplant Services has filed a lawsuit against the United Network for Organ Sharing to allow continued use of Buckeye’s proprietary technology to assess organ donor data.

Kidney Care Partners, a coalition of 30 organizations involved in kidney care, said it was “extremely concerned” about a proposal by CMS to increase the Medicare bundled payment rate by 1.6% next year, according to a press release.

A new study looking at data from a private health plan found costs for kidney drugs in patients on hemodialysis were twofold higher compared to patients on peritoneal dialysis.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action programs during admissions processes at colleges and universities, potentially reducing the number of underrepresented students in medical education, experts said.

CMS has released a proposed rule that would increase the bundled payment rate for dialysis treatments by 1.6% in 2024 – about half of the increase that clinics received in 2023.

Legislators have introduced a bill to restore cuts in Medicare funding for office-based procedures, including for vascular access.