Kidney Care Partners (KCP), the nation’s largest kidney care coalition, released the following statement in response to the 2026 Kidney Care National Plan issued today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

“KCP appreciates the perspectives reflected in HHS’s 2026 Kidney Care National Plan and agrees that few health conditions demand more urgent national action than kidney disease, one of the most consequential and costly chronic illnesses in the United States. KCP shares HHS’s recognition of Medicare’s outsized role in financing care and its goal of reversing the growing prevalence of kidney disease, reducing rising healthcare costs, and improving life expectancy for kidney failure patients. KCP also agrees that federal regulatory and reimbursement barriers continue to slow progress that could meaningfully improve patients’ lives. 

The Plan appropriately recognizes the regulatory burdens for dialysis providers, who deliver comprehensive care to medically complex individuals within a stagnant reimbursement model that fails to reflect the true cost of care and discourages therapeutic innovation. The core problem is the payment system, which only Congress can change, that inhibits competition, hampers innovation, and encumbers providers who work every day, with limited resources, to ensure access to preventive services, dialysis, and transplant supportive care in both facilities and patients’ homes in all communities across the United States.  

KCP members are dedicated to slowing the progression of kidney disease, strengthening access to transplant, and advancing innovation. KCP would like to partner with the Administration to transform the nation’s kidney care delivery system. KCP also encourages Congress to support the Plan’s important advances and future priorities, by adopting the Kidney Care Access Protection Act (KCAPA) (S. 2730/H.R. 6214) and the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act (RESTORE) (S. 1173/H.R. 2199), which would modernize kidney care policy, strengthen patient access, and support innovation in line with the Plan released today,” said Colin Roskey, Executive Director, Kidney Care Partners. 

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About Kidney Care Partners

Kidney Care Partners is the nation’s largest kidney care coalition, comprised of patient advocates, care professionals, dialysis providers, researchers, and manufacturers dedicated to improving quality of care and outcomes for individuals with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.