Policy and Politics News

The American Association of Kidney Patients joined the American Society of Nephrologyin Capitol Hill for the 3rd Annual Kidney Health Advocacy Day.  The physicians and medical researchers of ASN were joined by AAKP patient volunteers from across the country and met with multiple elected leaders and more than 70 key staff members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to show support for legislative and policy solutions of critical importance to kidney patients and medical researchers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released new data on Medicare Part D prescription drugs prescribed by physicians and other health care professionals in 2013. This data shows which prescription drugs were prescribed to Medicare Part D beneficiaries by which practitioners.  The agency said they relased the data as part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to make the health care system "more transparent, affordable, and accountable."

The Intermountain End Stage Renal Disease Network Inc., which holds the contracts for ESRD Network 15 and 17, has announced plans to affiliate with HealthInsight, a nonprofit, community-based health care consulting organization, to create the HealthInsight ESRD Alliance.  The partnership aims to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and reach of quality health care for patients and providers across the western United States. Participants in the new HealthInsight ESRD Alliance will retain their corporate identities and will continue to use their current names alongside the HealthInsight ESRD Alliance name.

A panel made up of renal community members and other medical professionals will meet as part of a Technical Expert Panel later this month to review the methodology used for the controversial 5-Star rating system for dialysis facilities.

The legislation passed by the Senate April 14 that would permanently remove the sustainable growth rate formula, also allows nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists to document the face-to-face encounters with Medicare patients required that are to write prescriptions for durable medical equipment. Previously, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists were required to certify that the order for durable medical equipment was based on a prior face-to-face visit with a Medicare patient as documented with a physician’s co-signature.

Just 24 hours before physicians would face a 21% cut in their Medicare pay, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation, called the "Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015," that would permanently remove the sustainable growth rate formula that dictates pay.

Keep up with the changing Medicare environment. Read the articles from this series.

 This blog post was originally published March 30, 2015, for the Acumen Nephrology Blog.

The Clinical Standards Group in the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality asked the ESRD community to provide suggestions for changes to the Conditions for Coverage, which was last revised in 2008.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. said that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final Medicare Advantage benchmark payment rates, announced April 6, will lead to a reduction in Medicare Advantage rates to the company’s HealthCare Partners business of approximately 2%, or a net impact of approximately $50 million to 2016 operating income, the company  said in an SEC filing April 8. Many health plans will see a rate increase of 1.25%, But DaVita will be negatively impacted by CMS' modification of the risk adjustment calculation, which CMS said will decline by 1.7%.