Health Care Reform Efforts Must Reassure Patients
Published by Real Clear Health We’ll know in fairly short order whether House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders learned anything from their failed attempt to ram legislation repealing and replacing Obamacare through Congress. The initial effort didn’t pass for a number of reasons but mostly because no one thought things through to the…
Congress, Admin. have chance to improve quality, care for those with kidney disease, failure
Published by The Hill As lawmakers consider different ways to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, one thing remains certain: when the dust settles, millions of Americans will be watching, waiting, and expecting policies that improve their health, access to healthcare, and how they receive it. More than half a million of these Americans…
Groups Outraged Dialysis Facilities Must Tell Issuers About Premium Assistance; Legal Action Eyed
Published by Inside Health Policy Patient groups supporting people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are incensed over a CMS rule out Monday that they say goes beyond pushing for greater transparency and instead grants health plans the power to reject coverage for ESRD patients receiving assistance from third-party payers. At least one group, Dialysis…
President signs bill that gives ESRD patients access to Medicare Advantage
Published by Nephrology News & Issues President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act Dec. 13. The legislation, which addresses funding for the National Institutes of Health and makes regulatory changes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, also includes a provision that allows end-stage renal disease patients to choose Medicare Advantage plans. The bill was approved…
Kidney Care Partners disappointed in CMS interim final rule
Published by Nephrology News & Issues The following is a statement from Kidney Care Partners in response to an interim final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding dialysis companies providing premium assistance for individual marketplace plans either directly, or through a third party. Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s…
Senate Finance Committee Floats Chronic Care Discussion Draft
The Senate Finance Committee released wide-ranging, bipartisan draft chronic care legislation Thursday (Oct. 27) that among other reforms would extend by two years the Independence at Home demonstration, let kidney-failure patients enroll in Medicare Advantage, ease telehealth restrictions, and change how beneficiaries could be assigned to accountable care organizations. Jim Scott, a former CMS senior adviser who…
Expanding Home Dialysis Among Options in Draft Senate Bill
xpanding access to home dialysis therapy and a Medicare Advantage model that tests benefit designs are among the recommendations in a draft Senate committee bill to improve treatment for beneficiaries with chronic illness released Oct. 27. The Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group, headed by committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Ron Wyden…
Saving the Affordable Care Act Doesn’t Have to Cost the Sickest Their Coverage
Published by Morning Consult Six years ago, I and many others who have made our careers in health care policy cheered the Affordable Care Act being enacted into law. Though the ACA has proven to be a highly partisan issue, one important part of the law has consistently received wide support across the aisle —…
Dialysis Patients Get OK in House to Enroll in Medicare Plans
Published by Bloomberg BNA People suffering from end-stage renal disease would be allowed to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans under one of three health-care related bills passed by the House Sept. 21. Included in the three bills are provisions lifting Medicare regulations that prohibit end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from enrolling in Medicare Advantage and…
House passes Medicare Advantage bill for ESRD patients
Published by Nephrology News & Issues The U.S. House has passed the ESRD Choice Act of 2016 (H.R. 5659). The bill, introduced in July by Representatives Jason Smith, R-Mo., John Lewis, D-Ga., Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Tom Marino, R-Pa., would remove current government rules and restrictions that prevent end-stage renal disease patients from participating…