The House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation on Thursday that U.S. Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) sponsored to help those suffering from chronic kidney disease.
The Dialysis Patient Access to Integrated-care, Empowerment, Nephrologists, Treatment and Services (PATIENTS) Demonstration Act, H.R. 5942, would improve care coordination for patients with end-stage renal disease.
Improving care coordination would reduce healthcare costs, Young said, and allow the most vulnerable individuals to live healthier and more active lives.
“This program utilizes the dialysis facility as a central command point for patients to access coordinated health care services — sparing patients time, money and multiple trips in and out of various providers’ offices — all while producing better health outcomes,” Young said.
The bill would also expand a more comprehensive healthcare delivery model that spares patients with renal disease from health complications that lead to added costs and complications, Young added.
“With this legislation, we can reduce hospitalizations and readmissions, and decrease overall program costs,” Young said. “Most of all, we have the potential to make a debilitating disease more manageable for hundreds of thousands of dialysis patients and help them lead healthier, more actives lives.”
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that more than 650,000 people receive dialysis each year to treat end-stage renal disease.
“Congressman Young’s bill establishes a voluntary ESRD integrated care program within Medicare where these patients can access the high-quality, coordinated care they need,” Brady said. “This will significantly improve health care outcomes for Americans with ESRD, save them time and money, and help lower costs to Medicare.”
Young and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) cosponsored the bill.