Legislative Agenda
OVERVIEW
Through our work with policymakers, Kidney Care Partners (KCP) advocates for policies that improve the coordination of care and the understanding of chronic kidney disease (CKD), lower the barriers that block patients from accessing and choosing treatments, expand and enhance research efforts, and that reform the economics underlying the kidney care landscape so that financial incentives are aligned with patient goals.
In all, KCP’s legislative goals are to promote legislation that will:
Advance the Kidney PATIENT Act
Patients living with kidney failure often require medication to manage phosphate levels. Currently, they can access these medications at their local pharmacy but an upcoming policy change from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would instead require dialysis providers to distribute these medications. Given that these drugs must be taken multiple times per day, typically with meals, KCP is concerned about the impact this change will have on maintaining patient access to care as well as the ability of providers to establish the infrastructure needed to support this policy in time. We urge Congress to advance the Kidney PATIENT Act (H.R. 5074/S. 4510), which would delay the inclusion of the payment for oral phosphate-binding medication into the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System for two years.
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Support the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act
In the Marietta v. DaVita decision, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) in a manner that removed the previous Congressional protection against plans discriminating against individuals with kidney failure who require dialysis. To address this issue, bipartisan members of the House of Representatives have introduced the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act (H.R. 6860 and S. 5018) to protect patient choice for those living with kidney failure.
Resources
The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research & Treatment Act
The bipartisan Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (H.R. 5027) was re-introduced in July 2023 by Representatives Carol Miller (R-WV) and Terri Sewell (D-AL). If passed, the legislation will support efforts to prevent and better understand chronic kidney disease (CKD) by ensuring appropriate reimbursement for quality care and improve patient access to the best drugs, technology and innovations along the kidney care continuum.