The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research & Treatment Act
The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (S.1971/H.R. 4065) is designed to protect the delivery of high-quality care for patients with kidney disease. Senators Benjamin Cardin(D-MA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) re-introduced the bill in the Senate on June 8, 2021, and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-FL) re-introduced the bill in the House of Representatives on June 23, 2021. If passed, this legislation would raise awareness of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) while also improving understanding and promoting access to treatment.
The legislation would:
- Expand kidney disease awareness and education by expanding the Medicare annual wellness benefit to include kidney disease screening, increase access to the Medicare Kidney Disease Education Benefit, research disincentives in the Medicare payment systems that create barriers to kidney transplants and post-transplant care, and invest in understanding the progression of kidney disease and treatment of kidney failure in minority populations.
- Create an economically stable dialysis infrastructure and incentivize innovation by refining the ESRD payment system to improve accuracy in payment and support innovative therapies.
- Increase patient access to quality performance information by improving the accuracy and transparency of the ESRD quality programs by bettering patient decision making and transparency by consolidating and modernizing quality programs.
- Expand patient choice in coverage by providing Medigap access to ESRD beneficiaries and protecting dialysis patients’ access to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
Learn more about the CKD Improvement in Research & Treatment Act:
