Groups Outraged Dialysis Facilities Must Tell Issuers About Premium Assistance; Legal Action Eyed
Published by Inside Health Policy Patient groups supporting people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are incensed over a CMS rule out Monday that they say goes beyond pushing for greater transparency and instead grants health plans the power to reject coverage for ESRD patients receiving assistance from third-party payers. At least one group, Dialysis…
President signs bill that gives ESRD patients access to Medicare Advantage
Published by Nephrology News & Issues President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act Dec. 13. The legislation, which addresses funding for the National Institutes of Health and makes regulatory changes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, also includes a provision that allows end-stage renal disease patients to choose Medicare Advantage plans. The bill was approved…
Key Provision in 21st Century Cures Act Allows Access, Choice of Medicare Advantage Plans for Individuals with Kidney Failure
Kidney Care Community Lauds Provision As Significant Win for Nation’s Medicare Beneficiaries with Kidney Failure Washington, DC – President Obama signed the landmark 21st Century Cures Act today, following a bipartisan wave of support in the House and Senate, which contains a provision allowing Medicare beneficiaries with kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), access…
Kidney Care Partners disappointed in CMS interim final rule
Published by Nephrology News & Issues The following is a statement from Kidney Care Partners in response to an interim final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding dialysis companies providing premium assistance for individual marketplace plans either directly, or through a third party. Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s…
Statement by Kidney Care Partners on Conditions for Coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities,Third Party Payment (42 CFR Part 494)
Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s leading coalition of patient advocates, kidney disease professionals, dialysis care providers, and manufacturers – is extremely disappointed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) failure to address a growing practice of discriminatory behavior among insurers in designing plans that prohibit a vulnerable class of individuals who…
Kidney Care Partners Statement Regarding the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group’s Draft Chronic Care Legislation
Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s leading coalition of patient advocates, kidney disease professionals, dialysis care providers, and manufacturers — commends Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, Senators Isakson and Warner and the Senate Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group for working closely with the kidney care community to put forth thoughtful, patient-centric recommendations that address the…
Senate Finance Committee Floats Chronic Care Discussion Draft
The Senate Finance Committee released wide-ranging, bipartisan draft chronic care legislation Thursday (Oct. 27) that among other reforms would extend by two years the Independence at Home demonstration, let kidney-failure patients enroll in Medicare Advantage, ease telehealth restrictions, and change how beneficiaries could be assigned to accountable care organizations. Jim Scott, a former CMS senior adviser who…
Expanding Home Dialysis Among Options in Draft Senate Bill
xpanding access to home dialysis therapy and a Medicare Advantage model that tests benefit designs are among the recommendations in a draft Senate committee bill to improve treatment for beneficiaries with chronic illness released Oct. 27. The Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group, headed by committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Ron Wyden…
Saving the Affordable Care Act Doesn’t Have to Cost the Sickest Their Coverage
Published by Morning Consult Six years ago, I and many others who have made our careers in health care policy cheered the Affordable Care Act being enacted into law. Though the ACA has proven to be a highly partisan issue, one important part of the law has consistently received wide support across the aisle —…
Dialysis Patients Get OK in House to Enroll in Medicare Plans
Published by Bloomberg BNA People suffering from end-stage renal disease would be allowed to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans under one of three health-care related bills passed by the House Sept. 21. Included in the three bills are provisions lifting Medicare regulations that prohibit end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from enrolling in Medicare Advantage and…