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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tamara Ruggiero, 301-984-6657
Rockville, MD, July 10 -- The American Kidney Fund applauds the Senate for approving vital chronic kidney disease awareness and education provisions as part of the first major overhaul to Medicare’s End Stage Renal Disease Program in over a decade. The changes, incorporated in H.R. 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, will provide critical counseling benefits to chronic kidney disease patients and enhance awareness of the disease.
“The important patient education and chronic kidney disease demonstration projects approved by the Senate, and by the House in June, take a critical step forward in elevating awareness of kidney disease and empowering patients about their treatment options,” commented American Kidney Fund President and Chief Executive Officer LaVarne A. Burton.
Approximately one out of every eight Americans has chronic kidney disease, yet most are unaware of their condition and the effective actions they could take to prevent or delay the progression of the disease. As the nation’s top provider of direct financial assistance to kidney failure patients, the American Kidney Fund has witnessed the devastating impact of this disease and is committed to enhancing education to reduce the number of individuals and families affected by it.
The Medicare End Stage Renal Disease Program provisions of the Medicare bill include authorization for Chronic Kidney Disease Demonstration Projects to increase public awareness of kidney disease, screen for the disease, and promote greater understanding of risk factors and healthy behaviors. The package also includes educational counseling sessions for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic kidney disease to assist patients in managing their illness and avoiding complications.
The legislation also includes an important quality improvement program to encourage providers to meet new benchmarks for performance. Included, too, is a correction of an anomaly in the reimbursement rate for dialysis providers. The bill establishes a statutory mechanism to adjust the reimbursement rate for annual changes in costs. An annual update mechanism will provide greater financial stability for providers of dialysis care and prevent patients from being squeezed by potential cuts in services.
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