Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) on Friday would expand access to coordinated care for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
The Dialysis Patient Access to Integrated Care, Empowerment, Nephrologists and Treatment Demonstration (Dialysis PATIENT Demonstration) Act, H.R. 5506, would establish a demonstration program in which interdisciplinary teams provide holistic care to patients with ESRD under the leadership of a nephrologist.
“For Medicare patients living on fixed incomes, better coordinated care will spare them time, money and multiple trips in and out of various providers’ offices,” Young said. “We know patients with end-stage renal disease are vulnerable to a host of accompanying health complications that require extra care. This comprehensive approach, which shifts the focus from treating a singular disease to caring for the whole patient, will not only bring down costs but meaningfully improve quality of life.”
An estimated 650,000 Americans undergo dialysis to treat the final stage of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), otherwise known as ESRD. ESRD patients represent approximately 1.2 percent of the Medicare population but account for 6.3 percent of Medicare spending, which totals more than $30 billion.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who introduced the bill with Young, said that by giving providers better tools to coordinate care for treatment of Kidney disease, patients would see better outcomes.
“This is a first step towards improving kidney care, and more broadly reassessing federal policies, to help our most vulnerable individuals live healthier lives,” Blumenauer said.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) was an original cosponsor of the bill.