A bipartisan bill proposed on April 20 by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) would clarify the Medicare coverage policy for palliative dialysis services and the separate payment process for such services that are provided by renal dialysis facilities to certain individuals electing hospice care.
Specifically, the Concurrent Care for Comfort Act of 2026, H.R. 8376, which Rep. Kelly sponsored alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), would amend Medicare policy that currently states that Americans living with end stage renal disease are not permitted to continue their dialysis treatment under Medicare to enter palliative hospice care.
“The Concurrent Care for Comfort Act gives patients greater choice and accessibility to care while they receive their critical dialysis treatments,” Rep. Kelly said. “It’s a practical solution for both patients in what is often one of the most trying times of their life.”
H.R. 8376 has garnered support from the Nonprofit Kidney Care Alliance, Puget Sound Kidney Centers, and Dialysis Clinic Inc.
“At the end-of-life, patients with kidney failure often have to choose between hospice care or continuing dialysis, making them half as likely to receive hospice care than patients with other end-stage diagnoses,” said Rep. DelBene. “Our bipartisan bill addresses this issue and ensures patients have access to therapies that improve comfort at the end of life.”
The bill is under consideration by both the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.