U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) has called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an Officer of Kidney Health and Transplantation to strengthen federal efforts to prevent and treat chronic kidney disease, which affects more than 37 million Americans.
“Kidney disease is a growing challenge in our country, and we have an opportunity to work together to better support patients through stronger coordination and prevention,” Rep. Buchanan said on Tuesday. “Establishing a Kidney Health Officer at HHS would build on existing efforts, strengthen prevention strategies, and help ensure patients have access to care sooner.
“We can’t afford to wait until lives are at risk — prevention must come first to stop kidney disease before it takes hold,” said the congressman.
Rep. Buchanan reiterated that stance in an April 1 letter he and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) sent to both the HHS Secretary and the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in which they wrote that kidney disease costs the federal government $150 billion annually.
“And yet research in cures is drastically underfunded, representing just 2 percent of National Institutes of Health funding,” they wrote. “Even when innovation comes to market, the incentives in place limit meaningful patient access. We can and should do more to support the millions of individuals who suffer from kidney disease, through investing in research while also ensuring access to preventive medical care, proper screening, and lifestyle- and diet-related education to advance early detection and halt the disease before it turns into ESRD [End-Stage Renal Disease].”
The lawmakers also said they are working with HHS to build upon ongoing efforts by creating a centralized leadership role to better coordinate kidney care, research, education, and quality initiatives across federal agencies, including the CMS.
The proposal follows recommendations from a hearing held by the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee — which is led by Reps. Buchanan and Doggett — on March 18, entitled “Improving Kidney Health Through Better Prevention and Innovative Treatment,” that examined the barriers experienced by Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in accessing care to slow the progression of the disease before it becomes irreversible, according to their letter.
A central office at HHS expressly focused on advancing kidney health could provide much-needed holistic oversight of CKD prevention work, while advancing innovation, wrote Rep. Buchanan and his colleague.
“As the risk factors for CKD include many common chronic conditions that are on the rise across the United States — including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity — the work of such an office will become all the more relevant in the coming years, aligning with an agenda to advance prevention broadly,” they added. “We think this officer could be a step toward helping the millions of Americans who suffer from kidney disease every year, and we hope you will seriously consider this suggestion.”