WASHINGTON –  Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s leading kidney care multi-stakeholder coalition representing patient advocates, physician organizations, health professional groups, dialysis providers, researchers and manufacturers – marked World Kidney Day to emphasize its key policy objectives to improve workforce development, drive kidney care innovation, support disease prevention, and restore statutory protections for patients living with kidney disease and kidney failure. 

“Today, on World Kidney Day, while we reflect on the commitment of all of KCP’s members to improve the lives of those impacted by kidney disease, we cannot also deny that many obstacles remain that need to be addressed. These include the ongoing healthcare workforce shortage and the Supreme Court’s disappointing decision last year, which effectively eliminated statutory protections in the Medicare Secondary Payer Act that shielded individuals with kidney disease from inequitable and discriminatory insurer practices,” said John P. Butler, Chair of KCP. “As a community, we’re coming together to address these challenges, but also to promote innovation in kidney care and increase early education and disease awareness for the tens of millions of Americans living with kidney disease.”

This year, KCP will focus on four main policy areas:

Workforce Development

Amidst the increasing number of Americans with chronic kidney disease, the nephrology workforce continues to shrink, impacting the availability of vital healthcare services, including dialysis. To preserve access for kidney care patients, KCP will continue to work with policymakers to explore and adopt policies that incentivize healthcare professionals to enter and remain in the field of nephrology.

Innovation

Another important objective for KCP is to expand choice and innovation to all Americans living with kidney disease. KCP will continue to develop and champion policies that encourage innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney disease, resulting in lower costs, better care, and incentives for new therapies.

Disease Prevention

KCP remains committed to promoting education resources and expanding access to prevention tools such as screening to help ensure individuals within the kidney community can lead a full and productive life.

Medicare Secondary Payer Act

The Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling in Marietta v. DaVita hinders patient access to quality care and unnecessarily burdens U.S. taxpayers by putting additional pressure on our nation’s Medicare program.

An estimated 37 million Americans live with kidney disease – nearly the same amount as the entire population of California. Left untreated, kidney disease can progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) — or kidney failure -– an irreversible condition that requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to sustain life. Currently, over half a million Americans rely on dialysis for their long-term kidney needs, while approximately 100,000 Americans are on the transplant waiting list.

###